NDLI: Government of Nct of Delhi Vs. Union of India & Another

Content Provider	Supreme Court of India
e-ISSN	30484839
Language	English
Access Restriction	NDLI
Subject Keyword	Constitution of India: Art. 239AA and 239AB
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Law Judgement
Jurisdiction	India
Act(s) Referred	Constitution of India
Case(s) Referred	Referred Case 0 Referred Case 1 Referred Case 2 Referred Case 3 Referred Case 4 Referred Case 5 Referred Case 6 Referred Case 7 Referred Case 8 Referred Case 9 Referred Case 10 Referred Case 11 Referred Case 12 Referred Case 13 Referred Case 14 Referred Case 15 Referred Case 16 Referred Case 17 Referred Case 18 Referred Case 19 Referred Case 20 Referred Case 21 Referred Case 22 Referred Case 23 Referred Case 24 Referred Case 25 Referred Case 26 Referred Case 27 Referred Case 28 Referred Case 29 Referred Case 30 Referred Case 31 Referred Case 32 Referred Case 33 Referred Case 34 Referred Case 35 Referred Case 36 Referred Case 37 Referred Case 38 Referred Case 39 Referred Case 40 Referred Case 41 Referred Case 42 Referred Case 43 Referred Case 44 Referred Case 45 Referred Case 46 Referred Case 47 Referred Case 48 Referred Case 49 Referred Case 50 Referred Case 51
Case Type	Appeal
Court	Supreme Court of India
Disposal Nature	Others
Headnote	Constitution of India:Art. 239AA and 239AB – Special provisions with respect toDelhi – National Capital Territory of Delhi – Status of – Held: NCTof Delhi cannot be accorded the status of a State under the presentconstitutional scheme – Status of NCT of Delhi is sui generis – Statusof Lieutenant Governor of Delhi is not that of a Governor of aState, rather he remains an Administrator, in a limited sense, workingwith the designation of Lieutenant Governor – LG cannot actindependently and is bound by the aid and advice of the electedcouncil of ministers subject to proviso to Art. 239 AA to refer thematter to the Parliament – Decisions of the Council of Ministersmust be communicated to the Lieutenant Governor but this does notmean that the concurrence of the Lieutenant Governor is required– Power of the Lieutenant Governor under proviso to Art. 239AA(4)has to be exercised in exceptional circumstances keeping in mindthe standards of constitutional trust and morality, principle ofcollaborative federalism and constitutional balance, the conceptof constitutional governance and objectivity and the nurtured andcultivated idea of respect for a representative government –Lieutenant Governor should not act in a mechanical manner withoutdue application of mind so as to refer every decision of the Councilof Ministers to the President – Exercise of establishing a democraticand representative form of government for NCT of Delhi by insertionof Arts. 239AA and 239AB would turn futile if the Government ofDelhi is not able to usher in policies and laws over which the DelhiLegislative Assembly has power to legislate for the NCT of Delhi –Constitution (Sixty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1991. Art. 239AA – Interpretation of – Held: Interpretative dissectionof Art.239AA(3)(a) reveals that the Parliament has the power tomake laws for the NCT of Delhi with respect to any mattersenumerated in State List and Concurrent List – Legislative Assemblyof Delhi also has power to make laws over all those subjects whichfigure in Concurrent List and all, but three excluded subjects (publicorder, police and land), in the State List – As a natural corollary,Union of India has exclusive executive power with respect to NCTof Delhi relating to the three matters in the State List in respect ofwhich the power of Delhi Legislative Assembly has been excluded –In respect of other matters, the executive power is to be exercisedby the Government of NCT of Delhi – This, however, is subject tothe proviso to Article 239AA(4) – Such an interpretation would bein consonance with the concepts of pragmatic federalism and federalbalance by giving the Government of NCT of Delhi some requireddegree of independence subject to the limitations imposed by theConstitution.Representative governance – Ideals/principles of – Held: Ina democratic republic, the sovereign elect their law makingrepresentatives for enacting laws and shaping policies – Mainpurpose of representative government is to represent the public will– Elected representatives being accountable to the public must beaccessible, approachable and act in a transparent manner – Thus,the elected representatives must display constitutional objectivityas a standard of representative governance.Constitutional morality and constitutional objectivity –Concept of – Held: Constitutional morality is that fulcrum whichacts as an essential check upon the high functionaries and citizenalike – Further, the theory of checks and balance gives rise toprinciple of constitutional objectivity – Constitutional trust expectsthe functionaries under the Constitution to be guided byconstitutional morality, objective pragmatism and the balance,required to sustain proper administration – Lieutenant Governorneed not, in a mechanical manner, refer every decision of the Councilof Ministers to the President – He has to be guided by the conceptof constitutional morality and is to act with constitutional objectivity.Constitutional governance and the conception of legitimateconstitutional trust – Held: Concept of constitutional governance has two features, the principles of fiduciary nature of public powerand the system of checks and balances – It gives rise to the requisiteconstitutional trust which must be exhibited by all constitutionalfunctionaries while performing their official duties – Power of theLieutenant Governor under proviso to Art.239AA(4) is to be exercisedin exceptional circumstances keeping in mind the standards ofconstitutional trust and morality, the principle of collaborativefederalism and constitutional balance, the concept of constitutionalgovernance and objectivity and the nurtured and cultivated idea ofrespect for a representative government – Lieutenant Governorshould not act in a mechanical manner without due application ofmind so as to refer every decision of the Council of Ministers to thePresident.Collective responsibility – Principle of – Held: Parliamentaryform of government is guided by the principle of collectiveresponsibility of the Cabinet – Cabinet owes a duty towards thelegislature for every action taken in any of the Ministries and everyindividual Minister is responsible for every act of the Ministry –Principle of collective responsibility is of immense significance inthe context of ‘aid and advice’ – If a well deliberated legitimatedecision of Council of Ministers is not given effect to due to anattitude to differ on the part of the Lieutenant Governor, then theconcept of collective responsibility would stand negated.Federal functionalism and democracy – Concept of – Held:Constitut ion contemplates a meaningful instrumentation offederalism and democracy to put in place an egalitarian social order,a classical unity in a contemporaneous diversity and a pluralisticsetting in eventual cohesiveness without losing identity.Collaborative federalism, pragmatic federalism and federalbalance – Concept of – Held: Constitutional vision beckons boththe Central and the State Governments alike with the aim to have aholistic structure – Thus, the Union and the State Governments mustembrace a collaborative federal planning by displaying harmoniousco-existence and interdependence so as to avoid any possibleconstitutional discord – Acceptance of pragmatic federalism andachieving federal balance has become a necessity requiringdisciplined wisdom on the part of Union and State Governments bydemonstrat ing a pragmat ic orientation These concept hasapplicability to NCT of Delhi. Federal balance – Concept of – Held: Federalism is a conceptwhich envisions a form of Government where there is a distributionof powers between the States and the Centre – Principle of federalbalance is that the Centre and the States must act within their ownspheres – Union not to usurp all powers and the States enjoy freedomwithout any unsolicited interference from the Central Governmentwith respect to matters which exclusively fall within their domain –Role of the Court in ensuring the federal balance, assumes greatimportance.Constitutional culture and pragmatism – Need for – Held:Term ‘constitutional culture’ is the conceptual normative spirit thattransforms the Constitution into a dynamic document – It constantlyenables to keep in stride with the rapid and swift changes occurringin the society – Responsibility of fostering a constitutional cultureis on the State and the populace – Constitutional Courts, whileinterpreting the constitutional provisions, have to take into accountthe constitutional culture, bearing in mind its flexible and evolvingnature, so that the provisions are given a meaning which reflect theobject and purpose of the Constitution – In order to promote andnurture the spirit of constitutional culture, pragmatic approach ofinterpretation adopted by the courts have ushered in an era of‘constitutional pragmatism’.Constitutional renaissance – Understanding of – Held: It isfulfillment of constitutional idealism ignoring anything that is notpermissible by the language of the provisions of the Constitutionand showing regard to its sense, spirit and silence – Constitution isa constructive one – There is no room for absolutism or anarchy inthe field of constitutional governance and rule of law –Constitut ional functionaries are expected to cultivate theunderstanding of constitutional renaissance – Lieutenant Governorand the Council of Ministers to follow this idealism.Interpretation of Statutes:Interpretation of the Constitution – Approach to be adopted– Held: Constitutional Courts to read the words of the Constitutionin the light of the spirit of the Constitution so that the ideal democraticnature of the Constitution and the paradigm of representativeparticipation are not destroyed – Several factors must be given their due weightage in order to come up with a solution harmonious withthe purpose with which the different provisions were introduced –Judges to see that the Constitution was never intended to be a rigidand inflexible document and the concepts contained therein are toevolve over time as per the needs and demands of the situation.Interpretation of the Constitution – Purposive interpretation– Held: Literal rule is not to be the primary guiding factor ininterpreting a constitutional provision, especially if the resultantoutcome would not serve the fructification of the rights and valuesexpressed in the Constitution – In this situation, the courts to interpretthe Constitution in a purposive manner so as to give effect to itstrue intention and the provisions do not remain static and rigid.
Judge	Hon'ble Mr. Justice Ashok Bhushan Hon'ble Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud Honble Mr. Justice Dipak Misra
Neutral Citation	2019 INSC 194
Petitioner	Government Of Nct Of Delhi
Respondent	Union Of India & Another
SCR	[2018] 7 S.C.R. 1
Judgement Date	2018-07-04
Case Number	2357

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