The Supreme Court in its judgment in the Facebook India chief Ajit Mohan case has praised the voters of Delhi for bringing two separate political parties to power at the Center and the state level over the years.
The Supreme Court has said that seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi are occupied by the ruling NDA government at the Center but in the assembly elections, a very different result came. This has happened twice. It shows the maturity of the voters. The government of some other party is in power at the center while another is elected in the state because the roles are different. However the same maturity is missing with respect to the two elected governments.
What Supreme Court said
The court has said that maturity is required from both the parties. The absence of maturity has led to a conflict between the two governments. The court has observed that no governance model can work if either of the parties has an obstinate attitude. The Supreme Court said that the protracted and repeated battles between the state and central governments in Delhi have also cast a shadow over the good intentions of the Peace and Harmony Committee constituted by the Delhi Legislative Assembly to test the Delhi riots (2020).
The top court has said that frequent conflicts between Delhi and the central government over government issues have been responsible for the litigation. Despite repeated judicial advice to work together, there has been no success on this issue.
The Supreme Court in its 188-page order said, “We can record that the Central Government and the Delhi Government have been unable to see each other on issues of governance. The last few years have seen an unfortunate clash between the Delhi government and the central government on every aspect. While the Delhi government is demanding to exercise powers like any other assembly, the central government is not ready to allow them to do so.
The Supreme Court has also said that the constitutional scheme of division of powers in Delhi has to be recognized. He has to limit his ability to operate within his powers. When the government was elected, it knew what they were being elected for. Not that they think that there should be a division of powers. On the other hand the central government needs to work together with a different political system.
It should be noted that in this case also, the Central Government has supported Ajit Mohan’s plea, claiming that the Delhi Assembly has no power to inquire into the aspects related to the Delhi riots as it is a law and order issue. However, the Delhi government had claimed that the Delhi Legislative Assembly can do so because it is a matter of social concern.
