The ongoing feud between Delhi’s Lieutenant General (LG) Najeeb Jung and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is unlikely to end soon.

On Monday, the Supreme Court (SC) asked the Delhi government to withdraw its civil lawsuit filed under Article 131 of the Constitution for Delhi’s statehood. “The SC has asked Delhi government counsels to first file the Special Leave Petition [SLP] against the Delhi High Court verdict…to which the Delhi government counsel said that we will take the instruction and get back,” Nagendar Sharma, media advisor of Delhi Chief Minister, told Newslaundry. Delhi government counsels will “soon” file the SLP.

While the Bench of Justices AK Sikri and NV Ramana adjourned the hearing till next Friday, for AAP it is the only hope to score over Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung in the ongoing tug-of-war. The Delhi High Court in its August 4 verdict had declared Lieutenant Governor as the administrative head of the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi.

However, for Delhiwalas this ongoing slugfest between an LG and a CM isn’t the first one. Delhi Assembly representatives since its inception have been at loggerheads with the central government and its representatives at the Raj Niwas.

The first time when a Delhi CM tried to assert his power, he not only had to resign, but a year later, Delhi Assembly ceased to exist. Delhi was a state under Part C of State Act (1951). According to the Act, though, Delhi Assembly had legislative powers, but Chief Commissioner (CC) was head of the state. However, there was a provision for Council of Ministers and CM to aid and advice the CC in day to day functioning.

In 1952, Delhi witnessed its first Assembly elections. Congress leader Chaudhary Brahm Prakash was appointed as Delhi’s first CM. All was going well, but then Prakash had a tiff with the then CC Anand D Pandit.

“Jawaharlal Nehru and [Union Home Minister] Govind Ballabh Pant didn’t like Brahm Prakash. It was more like a tussle of personalities,” Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader VK Malhotra told Newslaundry. Malhotra was Delhi’s first elected councillor. “They [Prakash and Pandit] were at loggerheads on day-to-day governance issues. Brahm Prakash was forced to resign [in 1955] over the alleged gur [jaggery] scam.”

Later on, after the recommendations of the State Reorganisation Commission (1955) Delhi ceased to exist as a state in 1956.

In 1966, amid political pressure and public demand, Delhi Metropolitan Council was formed for administration of Delhi. Later, the Centre formed the Sarkaria Committee (1989) which recommended “special status” for the National Capital among the Union Territories.

“After 1956, Delhi saw its first election in 1993. However, the laws framed to run Delhi Metropolitan Council [Delhi Administration Act, 1966] continued to exist,” said journalist Prashant Tandon. He said that these laws continue to influence governance issues in Delhi. “Land, public order and law and order is not under Delhi government’s purview, which are major issues of tussles between the LGs and CMs.”

Delhi legislative Assembly replaced the Council in 1993 and the first Assembly election was won by BJP.
However, barely six months later CM Madan Lal Khurana found himself in a situation where present CM Kejriwal is seen quite often. The bone of contention was a probe ordered into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots by Khurana in1993.

“Khurana promptly set up a committee on 17 December with Justice [Ranjit Singh] Narula as chairman and me as member secretary. The system struck back. LG PK Dave issued a press statement asserting that Khurana had no power to appoint a committee dealing with law and order,” writes advocate and AAP member Harinder Singh Phoolka in his book co-authored with Manoj Mitta — When a Tree Shook Delhi.

The tiff between Khurana and LG PK Dave went to the extent that Dave called a press conference accusing the then BJP government of making an announcement related to sales tax without his consent.

Delhi’s fortunes didn’t reverse even after the change in government. In 1998 the Congress party won Assembly election and Sheila Dikshit was appointed CM.

“When Sheila Dikshit became CM for the first time, at that time Vijai Kapoor was the LG, who was a [AB] Vajpayee government appointee. Ask Dikshit, she would tell you for five years she had to go through exactly what Kejriwal faces right now,” says a journalist who has covered Delhi politics for almost two decades.

In 2006, despite the fact that Congress was in power at the Centre and in Delhi, troubles for Dikshit government continued. She locked horns with LG BL Joshi over several issues such as changing building laws in unauthorised colonies. But the tussle became more evident over the issue of nominating legislators for ‘foreign junkets‘.

In 2011, despite being the Congress appointee, LG Tejendra Khanna confronted Delhi government’s decision of increasing circle rates in Delhi. But this time the Union Home Ministry sided with Dikshit. They had similar instances of confrontation including one over the construction of a flyover.

“Here in Delhi, you are held responsible for things which you haven’t done…It is little frustrating for the Chief Ministers to be held accountable for law and order, when the Delhi government has nothing in its hand,” former Delhi CM Dikshit told Newslaundry.

According to Article 239AA of Constitution, the LG is head of National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi. The LG is to work on the aid and advice of council of ministers headed by the CM. Further, on September 24, 1998, the Union Home Ministry issued a notification that necessitated the LG, to consult the CM even in the matters of the Centre, extended to him by the President, that is, police, public order and services exercise. In case, he didn’t do so the reasons were to be recorded in writing.

However, the Narendra Modi government superseded 1998-notification by issuing May 21, 2015, notification. Now it is up to the discretion of the LG “to obtain the views” of the CM in matters of “services” – appointments and transfers of officers. This further deteriorated the already strained relationship between Kejriwal and Jung.

In the past one year, Kejriwal-led Delhi government knocked the Delhi High Court’s door on several occasions. The final blow from the court came when it declared LG to be the administrative head of NCT of Delhi. Adding salt to its wounds, the court clubbed these petitions and declared all commissions of enquiry appointed by Delhi government without the LG’s approval to be illegal.

Now the matter rests with the apex court, where the Delhi government is likely to file the SLP challenging Delhi HC verdict soon. The SC can certainly re-draw the lines of administrative powers between the Delhi Secretariat and Raj Niwas.