NEW DELHI: Throwing its weight behind Delhi lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung in his tussle with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal , the Centre on Friday unambiguously declared that he was not obliged to heed the AAP government on bureaucratic postings and transfers.By a notification issued just after midnight, the Centre emphasized that in matters concerning central services; that is, IAS, IPS, DANICS and DANIPS, the LG’s discretion is paramount, thus rebuffing Kejriwal’s contention that Jung could not act independently of the state government in matters concerning transfers and postings of central officers deputed to Delhi government.Significantly, the notification also made it clear that the jurisdiction of Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) police station of Delhi government was restricted only to employees and officers of the Delhi government and did not extend to “officers, employees and functionaries of the central government”, thus eliminating the room for any possible action by the Kejriwal-backed department against anyone who is not part of the state government.Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said the notification was meant to “remove” all confusion regarding governance in the national Capital and help the AAP government run the city efficiently. Stating that the tussle over distribution of powers was not political but a constitutional one, Jaitley told a press conference that “the circular issued by the home ministry is a clarificatory one… we do not want that due to confusion, offices get locked”.During the earlier 49-day tenure of AAP, ACB had raised many eyebrows when it lodged an FIR against the Union petroleum minister, senior officers of the petroleum ministry as well as Reliance Industries Limited for allegedly hurting consumers by rigging natural gas price. This is the second time that the Modi government has made it clear that ACB’s powers are restricted to employees of Delhi government alone.The first clarification came in July last year but was deemed inadequate because it did not specifically spell out that the jurisdiction will not extend to “employees, officers and functionaries” of the Union government. The Centre felt it was necessary to plug the room for any “extravagant “interpretation.TOI was the first to report about the Centre’s determination to weigh in on Jung’s behalf, on Thursday.The notification can escalate the confrontation between the BJP-led Centre and the Kejriwal government over the latter’s claim that it, having been elected by the people, has all the powers that fully fledged governments enjoy. The Centre, which had originally seemed reluctant to enter the fray, decided to jump into the ring after Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s return from his three-nation foreign trip.The Modi government took the stand that Delhi being a Union Territory has no powers over subjects such as ‘land’, ‘public order’ and ‘police’, as clearly spelt out under the Constitution, but also with regard to “services”: the trigger for the current confrontation. However, unlike in the case of ‘land’, ‘public order’ and ‘police’ which are absolutely “no-go” zones for the state government, the Centre has acknowledged the need to “consult” the chief minister with respect to “services”.As reported by TOI, the Centre has emphasized that Kejriwal cannot claim parity with chief ministers of full-scale states by pointing out to the absence of State Public Services and State Public Service Commission -- a mandatory feature of all states --- in Delhi.It also said IAS and IPS officers serving in Delhi are part of the Union Territories cadre which is common to other UTs such as Chandigarh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Puducherry, as well as the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Goa and Mizoram. It also said that officers belonging to two other services, DANICS (Delhi and Andaman and Nicobar Civil Service) and DANIPS (Delhi and Andaman and Nicobar Police Service) are also administered by the central government through the Union home ministry.The notification stands out from the earlier one because of the emphasis it places on the exclusion of “services” from what it defines as the domain of Delhi government.The desire to restrict the maneuver space for ACB is significant because of the widespread feeling that Kejriwal, distrustful of Delhi Police which reports to the Centre, wanted to develop it as a parallel investigation agency. Sources said Kejriwal wanted to expand the strength of ACB which has remained frozen for some time.While the likely impact of the notification on the case against RIL and others in the gas pricing case is unclear, it should address any concern about the problems that could have arisen from a generous decision on ACB’s powers.