Many LG's decisions illegal in light of 2018 SC order: Kejriwal

New Delhi: Several of VK Saxena's orders are illegal in light of the 2018 Supreme Court's decisions, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday after his meeting with the Lieutenant Governor, even as he asked him to keep politics aside from governance matters.

Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal said that he had carried copies of the Constitution, the GNCTD Act, and Motor Vehicles Act, with him to his meeting with Saxena. "Delhi LG has been interfering in the government's work that is causing inconvenience to people of Delhi. My intention was to sort out the issues, which is why I carried copies of the Constitution, Motor Vehicles Act, School Education Act, Supreme Court judgement," he said.

Kejriwal said that there are two kinds of subjects in Delhi - "reserved subjects" that include police, land, and public order on which LG can only take decisions, and "transferred subjects". "All the other subjects come under the Delhi government. On July 4, the Constitution bench of the Supreme Court had passed a judgement that said the LG has not been entrusted with any independent decision making power in terms of transferred subjects," he said. He also said, "There is no independent authority vested in LG to take decisions. In some matters, he can act as a judicial authority."

Kejriwal said that this means that various orders passed by LG, including ones on sealing of Delhi Dialogue and Development Commission Vice Chairman Jasmine Shah's office and issuing of notice demanding Rs 164 crore in recovery for ad expenses, are "illegal and unconstitutional". "However, he said that he has been referred to as the 'Administrator' and enjoys supreme authority," Kejriwal said. The Chief Minister also alleged that several departments stopped payments to the Delhi government three months ahead of the MCD polls. "Officials said that they had been unofficially told to do so. This was done to hurt the AAP in the polls," he alleged. Kejriwal urged Saxena to keep politics aside and said that he wants to work with LG.

The statements that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal attributed to Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena with regard to orders of the Supreme Court and powers as administrator are misleading and twisted to suit a particular agenda, a Raj Niwas official said on Friday.

These statements are categorically denied." The official said the chief minister will be well advised to function in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, Acts of Parliament and the Supreme Court's judgments and refrain from running down an existing law just because it has been challenged in the court of law.