In setback for Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi High Court said Lieutenant Governor is boss
Arvind Kejriwal's clobbering in a court case on who controls Delhi has meant that major decisions by his government, including inquiries into corruption cases, stand cancelled.
Here are 10 developments in the story:
The High Court ruled today that the Lieutenant Governor, who represents the Centre, is the "administrative head" of Delhi and Mr Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has to run all its decisions by him.
"Policy direction can't be issued without communicating to the Lieutenant Governor," said the court.
The AAP government was told that it was wrong to set up inquiries into alleged scams involving CNG fitness for buses and Delhi's cricket body DDCA without seeking Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung's approval.
The Kejriwal government had last year ordered an inquiry into the "CNG fitness scam" or the alleged corruption in contracts for fitness certificates issued to public buses that use CNG and said the Lieutenant Governor and former chief minister Sheila Dikshit could be questioned.
AAP alleges that three-time Delhi Chief Minister Ms Dikshit presided over a Rs. 100-crore scam and Mr Jung allowed it.
The Kejriwal government also ordered an inquiry into alleged financial corruption in the Delhi and District Cricket Association or DDCA, led by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for 13 years till 2013. Mr Jaitley has sued Mr Kejriwal for defamation over his allegation that he siphoned off money from the cricket body.
When a team of the CBI, which reports to the Centre, raided Mr Kejriwal's office in December accusing his aide Rajendra Kumar of corruption, AAP alleged that it was a ruse to find files linked to the "DDCA scam".
AAP had challenged the Centre's order last year stopping the Delhi government's anti-corruption branch from investigating or taking action against officers reporting to the central government.
The court today said that the Centre's order is "neither illegal nor unsustainable."
The Delhi government has argued in court that there cannot be two reporting authorities. The Centre, however, told the court that Delhi remains in its control as it is not a full state.
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