will have no executive power in relation to the above and further that power in relation to the aforesaid subjects vests exclusively in the President or his delegate i.e. the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi.”
3. The above notification was assailed through a batch of petitions before the High Court of Delhi. The validity of the notification was upheld by the High Court as it declared that “the matters connected with ‘Services’ fall outside the purview of the Legislative Assembly of NCT of Delhi.”[1] On appeal, a two-Judge Bench of this Court was of the opinion that the matter involved a substantial question of law about the interpretation of Article 239AA, which deals with “Special provisions with respect to Delhi”, and hence referred the issue of interpretation of Article 239AA to a Constitution Bench on 15 February 2017.
4. Article 239AA provides as under:
“239-AA. Special provisions with respect to Delhi—
(1) As from the date of commencement of the Constitution (Sixty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1991, the Union Territory of Delhi shall be called the National Capital Territory of Delhi (hereafter in this Part referred to as the National Capital Territory) and the Administrator thereof appointed under Article 239 shall be designated as the Lieutenant Governor.
(2)(a) There shall be a Legislative Assembly for the National Capital Territory and the seats in such Assembly shall be filled by Members chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the National Capital Territory.
(b) The total number of seats in the Legislative Assembly, the number of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes, the division of the National Capital Territory into territorial constituencies (including the basis for such division) and all other
matters relating to the functioning of the Legislative
- ↑ Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi v. Union of India (“Delhi High Court judgment”), (2016) 232 DLT 196.
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