Supreme Court refuses to pause Centre's ordinance on control of bureaucrats' services in Delhi

However, the court has issued a notice to the Centre following the Delhi government's petition.

"We will issue notice to amend the petition to implead the Lieutenant Governor," said Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud.

The next hearing in the case is on Monday when the court will also hear the Delhi government's petition on the Lieutenant Governor sacking 400 specialists like fellows, and research officers.

The Lieutenant Governor is "acting like a super CM," the AAP government had told the court in its petition, filed shortly after the Centre passed the executive order last month.

The Ordinance overrides the Supreme Court order given barely a week ago that said only the Delhi government was the boss.  

Except for issues linked to land, police, and public order, the Lieutenant Governor has "no independent decision-making powers" under the Constitution, said the five-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice Chandrachud, which had looked into whether the Central government has administrative control over transfers and postings of civil servants in the national capital.

The case has its roots in 2018, when the Arvind Kejriwal government had gone to court, arguing that its decisions were constantly overridden by the Lieutenant Governor, who acts as the Centre's representative in Delhi.