Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, July 20: The Delhi government’s petition against the Centre’s Ordinance was referred by the Supreme Court on Thursday to a five-judge Constitution Bench. The Delhi government’s plea, which challenges the Centre’s Ordinance removing services from its control, was being heard by the court. In the evening, the court will upload the order online, which will include the hearing date.
“We shall refer it to the constitution bench,” a bench made up of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justices P S Narasimha and Manoj Misra declared.
The bench made its decision after listening to brief arguments presented by senior advocates Harish Salve and Abhishek Singhvi, who represented Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena and the Delhi government, respectively.
The Centre introduced an ordinance in May to limit the authority of Delhi’s elected government. The executive order was issued days after the Supreme Court gave Delhi’s elected government jurisdiction over all services save those relating to police, public order and land.
After the national government’s action, Arvind Kejriwal travelled the country speaking with non-BJP parties to rally opposition to the Delhi law. According to Kejriwal, the ordinance will destroy the nation’s federal structure.
The Delhi ordinance was also contested by the Aam Aadmi Party-led government in the Supreme Court, which described it as “manifestly arbitrary” and “unconstitutional.”
