In SC, Centre justifies segregating CBI, Delhi Police powers to probe staff

The Centre on Wednesday justified in the Supreme Court its decision to issue a notification which said that while the CBI would probe criminal cases against central government employees, the Delhi police will investigate the city government staff.

A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan examining various notifications of the AAP-led Delhi government and the Centre on administrative issues was told that the Union government was well within its rights under the Constitution to distinguish between the investigating powers of Delhi Police and the CBI.

Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the Centre, referred to the notification and said that the Union Territory government cannot order registration of FIR against functionaries of the Central government.

He said the distinction between powers of the CBI and Delhi Police was a "well carved" one to ensure that "both governments work effectively and separately" without any conflict.

Dwivedi also assailed the Delhi High Court's decision that the city government was empowered to appoint public prosecutors saying that if a criminal case is being probed by a central agency, then the power to appoint lawyers vested with the Union Government.

Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for a private firm, said it all started in 2014-15 as the then Delhi government had decided to lodge an FIR with its own Anti-corruption branch (ACB) against some of the then Union Ministers, who were part of the EGoM, and the company in connection with the fixation of price of gas from KG-6 Basin.

Just because the Union government "sits on Delhi soil", the Delhi government cannot be filing the FIR with its own ACB.

The advancing of arguments remained inconclusive and would continue tomorrow.

Earlier, the AAP government and the Centre were at loggerheads over the requirement of LG's concurrence in issuing notification for appointing presiding officers at family courts here.

The top court had said that it will lay down procedure on the issue of sending the file to LG, in its verdict on the ongoing Delhi-Centre row over the administration of the national capital.

The bench said that to resolve the ambiguity, if any it will lay down the procedure on the issue of sending the file to LG, in its verdict.

The Centre had told the apex court that the LG has the power to regulate services in Delhi.

The powers are delegated to the administrator of Delhi and the services can be administered through him, it had said.

The five-judge bench had on July 4 laid down broad parameters for governance of the national capital, which has witnessed a power struggle between the Centre and the Delhi government since the Aam Aadmi Party came to power in 2014.

In the landmark verdict, it had unanimously held that Delhi cannot be accorded the status of a state but clipped the powers of the Lieutenant Governor (LG), saying he has no "independent decision-making power" and has to act on the aid and advice of the elected government.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had been at loggerheads with incumbent LG Anil Baijal and his predecessor Najeeb Jung.

Kejriwal had accused both of them of preventing the functioning of his government at the behest of the Centre.