PIL on Delhi statehood: High Court seeks copy of plea filed in Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court asked its Registrar to procure and file the copy of a petition seeking complete statehood for Delhi and Puducherry, which was disposed of by the apex court.

A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice R S Endlaw sought the copy of the plea filed in the Supreme Court and fixed the matter for further hearing on July 23.

The court was hearing a petition filed by lawyer Gaurav Kumar Bansal seeking quashing of Article 239 AA and 239 AB of the Constitution and complete statehood for the National Capital Territory of Delhi.

Earlier, the court had asked the Centre to apprise it whether the 1991 Constitutional amendments, that made Delhi a partial state and empowered the President to appoint its Chief Minister, has been challenged in any court of law.

The Articles 239AA and 239AB were inserted in the Constitution in 1991 and one of the provisions says the Chief Minister will be appointed by the President, the plea had said.

"The Articles 239AA and 239AB are being ultra vires to the basic structure of Indian constitution because they create structures which is neither a state nor a UT (Union Territory) and go against the basic concept of federalism," the PIL had said.

The petition had also said "while the Constitution talks only of states as the primary unit of the Union, with a small area being placed among the UTs which possibly were found not fit to be governed through separate states and/or needed to be governed directly by the Union, these Articles 239AA and 239AB create such constitutional entities which are neither states nor UTs and are hence a structure completely unknown in the Indian constitution".

It had said the features of Articles 239AA and 239AB are creating a large number of complexities and inherent contradictions which go against the basic structure of federalism.

Article 239AB and Article 239AA are special provisions with respect to Delhi and deal with powers of legislatures, council of Ministers etc.