The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought response of the Centre on a public interest litigation for striking down the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Amendment Act which increases powers of the Lieutenant Governor.
A Bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh issued notice to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the office of Lt Governor seeking their stand on the plea by a lawyer. The Delhi government standing counsel, Santosh K Tripathi, said the plea was not maintainable as the elected government has not been made a party .
President Ram Nath Kovind on March 28 gave his assent to the Bill that accords primacy to Delhi's Lieutenant Governor (L-G) over the elected government.
According to the legislation, the "government" in Delhi means the "Lieutenant Governor" and the city government will now have to seek the opinion of the L-G before taking any executive action.
Parliament passed the Bill last week -- Lok Sabha on March 22 and Rajya Sabha on March 24.
When the Bill was passed by Parliament, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal termed it a "sad day for Indian democracy".
