Is Najeeb Jung getting too big for his boots?

Has Najeeb Jung overgrown his post of lieutenant-governor (L-G) of Delhi? It seems so on the basis of his letter to Arvind Kejriwal government of the national capital territory (NCT). Quoting the May 21 gazette notification of the Union home ministry, his office has stated that "government" means the "lieutenant- governor of the national capital territory of Delhi" appointed by the President under Article 239 and designated as such under Article 239AA of the Constitution. In a letter written to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's office, the L-G's office termed the appointment of Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal as "ultra vires" and "infructuous".

Firstly, the gazette notification nowhere mentions what Jung's office has quoted. Specifying the role of the L-G, it states that "subject to his control and further orders, the lieutenant-governor of the national capital territory of Delhi shall, in respect of matters connected with 'public order', 'police', 'land' and 'services' as stated hereinabove, exercise the powers and discharge the functions of the central government, to the extent delegated to him from time to time by the President". It adds that the L-G may consult the chief minister whenever s/ he thinks necessary on issues of services using his own "discretion".

Secondly, one needs to ask Jung that if "government" means the L-G of NCT of Delhi, what can the elected government of Delhi mean to anybody? Elected governments are always given priority over the nominated or selected posts in matters of governance, legislating laws and framing of rules. Delhi may not be a full-fledged state, but it does have an assembly, a speaker, a chief minister, council of ministers and MLAs.

The Centre spends crores on holding elections in Delhi. In fact, elections were held twice within a span of 14 months in Delhi - in December, 2013 and February 2015 - after Arvind Kejriwal had resigned as chief minister on February 14, 2014. For about one year after that, Delhi remained under President's rule. It may be remembered that it was not L-G's rule.

It is during this President's rule that Jung may have enjoyed absolute power, being the "administrator" (as the gazette notification quoting Article 239 of the Constitution states) of NCT. But then too, he could not have called himself the "government".

Jung can be accused of acting more loyal than the king to keep his political masters at the Centre in good humour. By creating hurdles in the functioning of Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi, he is pandering to the wishes of the BJP government at the Centre. After all, he is one of the handful of governors - like K Rosaiah (Tamil Nadu) and Ram Naresh Yadav (Madhya Pradesh) appointed during the UPA regime who have been retained by the Narendra Modi government, the rest having been shown the door. Rosaiah and Yadav continue because they are the choice of the chief ministers J Jayalalithaa (AIADMK) and Shivraj Singh Chouhan (BJP) respectively. But, Jung enjoys the confidence of the Centre because of his opposition to the AAP government in Delhi.

So, the multi-crore expenditure on maintaining an establishment of government - the ministers, their staff, bureaucracy, MLAs, et al - hardly means anything for him. If Jung thinks he, as L-G, is the NCT's government, should statehood be snatched away from Delhi and the status of Union Territory be reinstated?