The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to urgently hear a petition filed by the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government in Delhi seeking to restrain the Delhi High Court from passing any judicial orders on the scope and boundaries of the constitutional relationship between it and the Centre in administering the National Capital. The hearing will be held on July 4.

It said only the Supreme Court of India, to exclusion of all other courts in the country, under Article 131 had the original jurisdiction in any dispute between the Government of India and States. It contended that the tussle between the Centre and the Delhi government was a “federal” one which the apex court, not the Delhi High Court, should decide.

The tensions between the NDA government and Mr. Kejriwal have affected every arm of governance in Delhi over the months even as about a dozen petitions lie pending in the High Court in which they contest each other’s right to administer and govern the National Capital.

Friday’s urgent mention by the Delhi government before a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur follows the High Court on May 24 reserving its verdict on the stand-off between Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung and the Kejriwal government over who has authority to appoint bureaucrats in the Capital.

On May 21, 2015, the Union Home Ministry endowed Mr. Jung with absolute powers to appoint bureaucrats much to the trepidation of the AAP government, which had filed a writ petition seeking a judicial declaration that the fiat was “ultra vires of the Constitution” .

‘Centre’s interference’

Mentioning before Chief Justice Thakur’s Bench on Friday, senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for Delhi, said the government was unable to function independently as a “full State” and the Centre’s interference had led to a virtual paralysis. She said the dispute was centred on the powers of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi under Article 239A.

Original suit

Meanwhile, the Delhi government also filed an original suit in the Supreme Court seeking a final resolution on questions of distribution of legislative and (co-extensive) executive powers between the Centre, represented by Mr. Jung, and the Delhi government under Article 239AA.

The suit had highlighted issues like how the Delhi Police were run by the Centre unlike in other States. It said how the Anti-Corruption Branch, Delhi, was restrained from registering FIRs against Central government employees for corruption.