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Delhi Govt Vs Centre: Will Fight For Full Statehood, Says Kejriwal After SC Verdict

"It is injustice with people of Delhi,” Kejriwal said.
Hindustan Times via Getty Images

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called Thursday’s Supreme Court verdict “unfortunate” and reiterated his party would fight for full statehood.

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party said it was unfortunate that there was no clarity in the SC judgement that delivered a split verdict on who controls services in the National Capital Territory. Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan differed on who could appoint and transfer officers — the Delhi government or the Centre.

“If a government can’t even transfer its officers, how is it supposed to function? The party that has 67 seats doesn’t have the rights but the party who won three seats has those rights,” Kejriwal said at a press conference after the verdict.

“The SC verdict is unfortunate. It is injustice with people of Delhi,” he said.

People of Delhi will continue to suffer, AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj told reporters after the Supreme Court referred the issue of clarity on division of powers between the Delhi government and the Centre to a larger bench.

“We appeal to the people of Delhi, you have to strengthen us. We will fight for full statehood and betterment of Delhi,” Kejriwal said.

The two-judge bench, however, agreed on disputes relating to the Anti-Corruption Branch, setting up of a commission of inquiry, control over electricity boards, land revenue matters and appointment of pubic prosecutors.

The apex court also upheld the Centre’s notification that its employees cannot be probed in corruption cases by ACB of Delhi government.

Meanwhile, the Delhi unit of the BJP welcomed the judgement and said it removes ambiguities in the powers of the Delhi government.

There should no scope for “confusion or conflict” and the AAP government should humbly accept the Supreme Court judgement, Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta said.

(With PTI inputs)

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.