The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Union government to provide a panel of 5 senior bureaucrats by November 28 for the position of Chief Secretary of Delhi and the Delhi government may “pick one name” out of those suggested by the Centre.
A bench, headed by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to give the list of names to the Delhi government by 10.25 a.m. on Tuesday.
The bench, also comprising of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said that doing so would meet the “concerns of the Union government” and at the same time, “foster a degree of confidence in the officer in the elected arm of the state”.
“The ultimate choice will be made out of a panel named by you (Centre). Your concerns are taken care of,” the apex court told Mehta as it heard a plea filed by the Delhi government opposing the L-G’s “unilateral” determination of the top-most bureaucrat.
“From the inception of Delhi till your lordships’ first judgment in 2018, it was always ‘exclusively’ the government of NCT of Delhi, which appointed the Chief Secretary,” said senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared on behalf of the Delhi government.
He said that the Union Home Ministry merely made the formal appointment acting upon the recommendation made by the Chief Minister.
At this, CJI Chandrachud said: “Ultimately, the (Union) Ministry of Home Affairs has to make the appointment. But, you must have a process where governments function. Why don’t you give us a workable solution?”
The top court restrained itself from dictating anything formally in its order and said that it will put an end to the issue on November 28. Recently, the Supreme Court had nominated former Delhi High Court judge, Justice Jayant Nath, as an ad hoc chairman of the DERC after Delhi Lt Governor and Chief Minister failed to reach consensus on a common name.
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