Arvind Kejriwal wins as Delhi High Court strikes down L-G’s discretion

New Delhi: In its high-stakes battle with the Centre, the Arvind Kejriwal government got solid vindication with the Delhi High Court ruling on Monday that the city government’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) has the “jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute” Delhi police officials, and held that the Lieutenant-Governor cannot act in his “discretion”.

The High Court also termed as “suspect” the Centre’s gazette notification barring the Delhi ACB from acting against its officers in criminal offences, and noted that the Lieutenant-Governor was bound to act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers directly elected by the citizens of Delhi, and the Centre’s “executive fiat” supporting him was “suspect”.

While the AAP government termed the court’s verdict a “decisive victory”, the Union home ministry said it would first study the court’s observations before commenting on it. “We have not yet received the full text of the high court’s observations. When we receive it, we will study it and accordingly we will react,” an MHA spokesman said.

Soon after the verdict, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal wrote on Twitter: “Today’s High Court judgement (is) a huge embarrassment for central government. HC also said that the latest 21st May MHA notification is ‘suspect’.” “The Delhi high court verdict restoring the powers of the Anti-Corruption Branch is a decisive victory for the people of the national capital,” the AAP government said in a statement.