Both Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena have to rise above political bickering, the Supreme Court said today while making a suggestion to break the impasse on the Centre’s controversial ordinance which upturned a judgement of the top court granting greater control to the Delhi government over its bureaucrats.
“We have a suggestion to break the impasse. Can the LG and CM sit down and give an agreeable candidate? So that the person can be appointed for DERC (Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission),” the court said.
Senior Advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the Lieutenant Governor, said he was fine with the court’s suggestion.
“The ideal situation is both agreeing to a name for the DERC Chairperson. We don’t want to step into this. We want both of you to sit together and resolve this,” the court added.
The court made the suggestion after Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, arguing for the Aam Aadmi Party government, told the court the DERC was “headless”.
Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta informed the court that the Centre has filed an affidavit that the Bill will be introduced in the upcoming Parliament session to replace the Ordinance.
This case relates to one section of the Ordinance — appointment of DERC Chairperson.
The court is also hearing a second plea challenging the whole ordinance, in which it will issue notice and send the matter to a Constitution bench. The Supreme Court will next hear the case on Thursday.
The Centre is unlikely to face any trouble getting its ordinance through Rajya Sabha, where it does not have a majority, despite the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) securing the Congress’s support on the subject.
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