Supreme Court Stays NGT's Direction Appointing LG As Chairman Of High Level Committee On Yamuna

The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the direction of the Nation Green Tribunal (NGT) which had appointed the Lt. Governor of Delhi as the head of the High level Committee for Yamuna river pollution. The matter was listed before a bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha, and Justice Manoj Misra.

Senior Advocate Dr AM Singhvi, appearing for the Delhi Government, argued that the such a power would not even be given to a Governor let alone an LG. He submitted that a domain expert should be the head of the committee. Getting a hold of his arguments, Justice Narasimha said–

"It's a question of proprietary."

The Chief Justice added–

"According to you, they could have asked an expert."

Dr Singhvi responded in an affirmative and the bench issued notice in the matter.

CJI DY Chandrachud added–

"There shall be a stay of the operation on direction of NGT to the extent that the LG has been asked to be the head. We are not staying the entire order."

The appeal was filed under Section 22 of the NGT Act, arguing that the appointment of LG as the head of the high-level committee in the order passed is violative of the constitution.

“The executive power for matters relating to local governance lies exclusively with the State Government (GNCTD) under the Constitution, except to the extent limited by an express Parliamentary law,” the plea stated.

Referring to Article 239AA of the Constitution, the Delhi Government has argued that “LG is only a nominal figurehead except in areas of police, order and land where he exercises his powers in lieu of the power designated by the Constitution.”

It also referred to State (NCT of Delhi) v. Union of India (2018) 8 SCC 501, wherein the Apex Court has held that, “the elected government of the NCT of Delhi has exclusive executive powers over all subjects in the State and Concurrent List, apart from the three excepted subjects of ‘public order’, ‘police’ and ‘land’.”

Notably, remedial measures for the management of solid waste do not fall under these excepted heads, the plea stated.

The appeal was filed and drafted by Advocate-on-Record Shadan Farasat, assisted by Advocate Aman Naqvi.

Case Title : GOVERNMENT OF NCT OF DELHI V. ASHWANI YADAV, DIARY NO. 22325 OF 2023

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