The Lieutenant Governor should not differ routinely with the decision of Council of Ministers and the difference of opinion should be based on cogent and strong reasons, the Supreme Court said Thursday.
Giving a split verdict on the contentious issue of who should control administrative services in a case pertaining to long-running conflict between the Narendra Modi government at the Centre and the AAP government in the national capital, the top court said that LG is empowered to form its opinion 'on any matter' which may be different from the decision taken by the ministers.
"Any matter does not mean each and 'every matter' or 'every trifling matter' but only those rare and exceptional matters where the difference is so fundamental to the governance of the Union Territory that it deserved to be escalated to the President," said a bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan.
The top court, however, said there may be contingencies where LG and his ministers may differ and in such ...
