Constitution of India:

Art. 239AA and 239AB – Special provisions with respect to Delhi – National Capital Territory of Delhi – Status of – Held: NCT of Delhi cannot be accorded the status of a State under the present constitutional scheme – Status of NCT of Delhi is sui generis – Status of Lieutenant Governor of Delhi is not that of a Governor of aState, rather he remains an Administrator, in a limited sense, working with the designation of Lieutenant Governor – LG cannot act independently and is bound by the aid and advice of the elected council of ministers subject to proviso to Art. 239 AA to refer the matter to the Parliament – Decisions of the Council of Ministers must be communicated to the Lieutenant Governor but this does not mean that the concurrence of the Lieutenant Governor is required – Power of the Lieutenant Governor under proviso to Art. 239AA(4) has to be exercised in exceptional circumstances keeping in mind the standards of constitutional trust and morality, principle of collaborative federalism and constitutional balance, the concept of constitutional governance and objectivity and the nurtured and cultivated idea of respect for a representative government – Lieutenant Governor should not act in a mechanical manner without due application of mind so as to refer every decision of the Council of Ministers to the President – Exercise of establishing a democratic and representative form of government for NCT of Delhi by insertion of Arts. 239AA and 239AB would turn futile if the Government of Delhi is not able to usher in policies and laws over which the Delhi Legislative Assembly has power to legislate for the NCT of Delhi – Constitution (Sixty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1991.

Art. 239AA – Interpretation of – Held: Interpretative dissection of Art.239AA(3)(a) reveals that the Parliament has the power to make laws for the NCT of Delhi with respect to any matters enumerated in State List and Concurrent List – Legislative Assembly of Delhi also has power to make laws over all those subjects which figure in Concurrent List and all, but three excluded subjects (public order, police and land), in the State List – As a natural corollary, Union of India has exclusive executive power with respect to NCT of Delhi relating to the three matters in the State List in respect of which the power of Delhi Legislative Assembly has been excluded – In respect of other matters, the executive power is to be exercised by the Government of NCT of Delhi – This, however, is subject to the proviso to Article 239AA(4) – Such an interpretation would be in consonance with the concepts of pragmatic federalism and federal balance by giving the Government of NCT of Delhi some required degree of independence subject to the limitations imposed by the Constitution.

Representative governance – Ideals/principles of – Held: Ina democratic republic, the sovereign elect their law making representatives for enacting laws and shaping policies – Main purpose of representative government is to represent the public will – Elected representatives being accountable to the public must be accessible, approachable and act in a transparent manner – Thus,the elected representatives must display constitutional objectivity as a standard of representative governance.

Constitutional morality and constitutional objectivity – Concept of – Held: Constitutional morality is that fulcrum which acts as an essential check upon the high functionaries and citizen alike – Further, the theory of checks and balance gives rise to principle of constitutional objectivity – Constitutional trust expects the functionaries under the Constitution to be guided by constitutional morality, objective pragmatism and the balance,required to sustain proper administration – Lieutenant Governor need not, in a mechanical manner, refer every decision of the Council of Ministers to the President – He has to be guided by the concept of constitutional morality and is to act with constitutional objectivity.

Constitutional governance and the conception of legitimate constitutional trust – Held: Concept of constitutional governance has two features, the principles of fiduciary nature of public power and the system of checks and balances – It gives rise to the requisite constitutional trust which must be exhibited by all constitutional functionaries while performing their official duties – Power of the Lieutenant Governor under proviso to Art.239AA(4) is to be exercised in exceptional circumstances keeping in mind the standards of constitutional trust and morality, the principle of collaborative federalism and constitutional balance, the concept of constitutional governance and objectivity and the nurtured and cultivated idea of respect for a representative government – Lieutenant Governor should not act in a mechanical manner without due application of mind so as to refer every decision of the Council of Ministers to the President.

Collective responsibility – Principle of – Held: Parliamentary form of government is guided by the principle of collective responsibility of the Cabinet – Cabinet owes a duty towards the legislature for every action taken in any of the Ministries and every individual Minister is responsible for every act of the Ministry – Principle of collective responsibility is of immense significance in the context of ‘aid and advice’ – If a well deliberated legitimate decision of Council of Ministers is not given effect to due to an attitude to differ on the part of the Lieutenant Governor, then the concept of collective responsibility would stand negated.

Federal functionalism and democracy – Concept of – Held: Constitution contemplates a meaningful instrumentation of federalism and democracy to put in place an egalitarian social order, a classical unity in a contemporaneous diversity and a pluralistic setting in eventual cohesiveness without losing identity.

Collaborative federalism, pragmatic federalism and federal balance – Concept of – Held: Constitutional vision beckons both the Central and the State Governments alike with the aim to have a holistic structure – Thus, the Union and the State Governments must embrace a collaborative federal planning by displaying harmonious co-existence and interdependence so as to avoid any possible constitutional discord – Acceptance of pragmatic federalism and achieving federal balance has become a necessity requiring disciplined wisdom on the part of Union and State Governments by demonstrating a pragmatic orientation These concept has applicability to NCT of Delhi.

Federal balance – Concept of – Held: Federalism is a concept which envisions a form of Government where there is a distribution of powers between the States and the Centre – Principle of federal balance is that the Centre and the States must act within their own spheres – Union not to usurp all powers and the States enjoy freedom without any unsolicited interference from the Central Government with respect to matters which exclusively fall within their domain – Role of the Court in ensuring the federal balance, assumes great importance.

Constitutional culture and pragmatism – Need for – Held: Term ‘constitutional culture’ is the conceptual normative spirit that transforms the Constitution into a dynamic document – It constantly enables to keep in stride with the rapid and swift changes occurring in the society – Responsibility of fostering a constitutional culture is on the State and the populace – Constitutional Courts, while interpreting the constitutional provisions, have to take into account the constitutional culture, bearing in mind its flexible and evolving nature, so that the provisions are given a meaning which reflect the object and purpose of the Constitution – In order to promote and nurture the spirit of constitutional culture, pragmatic approach of interpretation adopted by the courts have ushered in an era of ‘constitutional pragmatism’.

Constitutional renaissance – Understanding of – Held: It is fulfillment of constitutional idealism ignoring anything that is not permissible by the language of the provisions of the Constitution and showing regard to its sense, spirit and silence – Constitution isa constructive one – There is no room for absolutism or anarchy in the field of constitutional governance and rule of law – Constitutional functionaries are expected to cultivate the understanding of constitutional renaissance – Lieutenant Governor and the Council of Ministers to follow this idealism.

Interpretation of Statutes:

Interpretation of the Constitution – Approach to be adopted – Held: Constitutional Courts to read the words of the Constitution in the light of the spirit of the Constitution so that the ideal democratic nature of the Constitution and the paradigm of representative participation are not destroyed – Several factors must be given their due weightage in order to come up with a solution harmonious with the purpose with which the different provisions were introduced – Judges to see that the Constitution was never intended to be a rigid and inflexible document and the concepts contained therein are to evolve over time as per the needs and demands of the situation.

Interpretation of the Constitution – Purposive interpretation – Held: Literal rule is not to be the primary guiding factor in interpreting a constitutional provision, especially if the resultant outcome would not serve the fructification of the rights and values expressed in the Constitution – In this situation, the courts to interpret the Constitution in a purposive manner so as to give effect to its true intention and the provisions do not remain static and rigid.