The Delhi Legislative Assembly does not have a separate secretarial cadre, and as a result, the Speaker or any authority under him/her is ineligible to appoint individuals to the house secretariat, according to a December 23 ruling by a single judge bench of the Delhi High Court led by Justice Chandra Dhari Singh. 

The court ruled that because Delhi is a Union Territory, Article 187 of the Indian Constitution, which prohibits the States from establishing separate secretarial staff, cannot be applied to Delhi.

"The Article 187, thus, has no applicability to the Legislative Assembly of NCT of Delhi. The posts can be created in Legislative Assembly of NCT of Delhi with the approval of Lt. Governor, Delhi, who is the Competent Authority by virtue of delegation of powers in this regard under Article 309 of the Constitution," the court said.

The court stated that as Delhi does not have its own State Public Services and since Entry 41 of List-II of the Constitution relates to "Services," the topic is outside the purview of the Delhi Legislative Assembly.

"The Legislative Assembly of NCT of Delhi has no legislative competence to legislate in respect of any subjects covered under Entries 1, 2 and 18 of State List and Entry 70 of the Union List. In view of Section 41 of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, the Lt. Governor is required to act in his discretion in respect of these matters and not on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers," the court said.

"Therefore, despite assuming the applicability of the Article 187 to the DLA, the Speaker cannot be said to be vested with powers to make appointments to its Secretariat," the court said.

The court further noted that none of the matters covered by Entries 1, 2, and 18 of the State List and Entry 70 of the Union List fall within the purview of the Delhi Legislative Assembly's legislative authority.

"In view of Section 41 of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, the Lt. Governor is required to act in his discretion in respect of these matters and not on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers," the court said.

The remarks were made while rejecting a petition filed by Siddharth Rao, a former secretary of the Delhi Legislative Assembly, that contested two orders that had removed him from office, declared all of his appointments to be invalid, and relieved him of his secretaryship. 

In rejecting the plea, the court noted that Rao was deputed for the position of Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Speaker, which did not exist, and that following the probationary period, he was immediately absorbed into the position of Joint Secretary and given the responsibility of Secretary with all pay scale upgrades.

The appointment was vitiated by deception and is void from the start, the court noted, because no consent from the appropriate authorities was obtained for the deputation as OSD, absorption as Joint Secretary, or promotion to Secretary.

"The entire saga of the series of appointments, absorption and promotion of the petitioner is tainted with irregularities and illegalities, de-hors the rules or due process of law, without approval by the competent authority and is vitiated," the court said.

Rao was given enough opportunities to respond to the show cause notice and to appear in personal hearings, "which he chose to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to," the court added, citing documents in the record to support this claim.

"Therefore, the petitioner‟s termination cannot be termed as illegal. Hence, in light of the foregoing discussion and analysis, there are no cogent reasons to entertain the petition and allow the prayers sought therein," the court said.

Case Title: SIDDHARTH RAO v. GOVERNMENT OF NCT OF DELHI & ORS
Citation: W.P.(C) 3522/2014 
Link: http://164.100.69.66/jupload/dhc/CDS/judgement/26-12-2022/CDS23122022CW35222014_154053.pdf