A five-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud is reading out the verdict on whether the Central government or the Delhi government has administrative control over transfers and postings of civil servants in the national capital.
The Supreme Court holds that if administrative services are excluded from the legislative and executive domains, the ministers would be excluded from controlling the civil servants who are to implement the executive decisions.
The Supreme Court says if the officers stop reporting to the ministers or do not abide by their directions, the principle of collective responsibility is affected. The officers feel they are insulated from the control of the government, which will dilute accountability and affect governance.
The Court says in a democratic form of government, the real power of administration must rest with the elected government. If a democratically elected government is not given the power to control the officers, the principle of the triple chain of accountability will be redundant.
