New
Delhi:
The Supreme Court today criticised the longstanding tussle between the Centre
and the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi, remarking that the two governments
need to get along to provide proper governance and failure to do so is “a
breach of their respective electoral mandate”. Pointing out that it has become
an “endeavour” for the Centre and the Delhi government to “score points off the
other”, the court said “maturity is needed from both sides” to rectify the
situation.
“No
governance model requiring such collaboration can work if either of the two
sides take a 'My way or the highway approach' which both seem to have adopted,”
said a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh
Roy.
While
courts have been asked to define the contours of powers of the Delhi government
and the Centre, advice to act in concert “appears to have fallen on deaf ears”,
the judges said.
The
court, which was hearing the case involving Facebook's appearance before the
Delhi assembly, was speaking of the social media site's role and responsibility
in instances where its platforms was used to spread fake news and inflammatory
messages.
Using
the Delhi riots as a case in point, the court observed that electoral results
have put one party in control at the Centre and one in the state, and the two
governments have been unable to see “eye to eye” on governance issues in Delhi.
The
last few years have witnessed “unfortunate tussles on every aspect, with the
Delhi government seeking to exercise powers of any assembly and the Central
government unwilling to let them do so,” the court said.
“This
has been responsible for a spate of litigation and despite repeated judicial
counsel to work in tandem, this endeavour has not been successful,” the judges
said.
Maturity
is required from both sides and we have to reluctantly note the absence of such
maturity in this important inter-relationship,” the judges said in their
detailed judgment.
“To
work well, the Central government and the state government have to walk
hand-in-hand or at least walk side by side for better governance... The failure
to do so is really a breach of their respective electoral mandate,” the judges
said.
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