The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Delhi government on Thursday approached the Supreme Court seeking to withdraw seven cases filed under the previous Aam Aadmi Party regime that had challenged the lieutenant governor’s authority in several statutory bodies, PTI reported.

Among the cases the Delhi government is seeking to withdraw is an appeal that had been filed by the Aam Aadmi Party administration against a National Green Tribunal order appointing the lieutenant governor as the head of the Solid Waste Monitoring Committee, according to Live Law.

The matter was mentioned on Thursday before a bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh by Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati.

Bhati told the court that the government is seeking to withdraw cases related to an ordinance, a law, and the lieutenant governor's chairpersonship in certain committees, which the court “need not trouble itself with” any longer.

At her request, the bench listed all seven matters for Friday.

AAP government’s plea against NGT order

In an order issued in February, 2023, the principal bench of the National Green Tribunal in New Delhi appointed the Delhi lieutenant governor as the chairperson of the Solid Waste Monitoring Committee for overseeing solid waste management in the national capital.

The Aam Aadmi Party government had filed the appeal against this, contending that appointing the lieutenant governor as the head of the committee violated constitutional provisions.

It argued that “public health, sanitation, and solid waste management” fall under entry 6 of schedule 12 of the Constitution, which empowers local bodies like the municipal corporations in Delhi to handle matters related to these subjects, Live Law said.

The Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government had said that the lieutenant governor is only a “nominal figurehead except in areas of police, order and land where he exercises his powers in lieu of the power designated by the constitution”.

It added that the “remedial steps suggested by the NGT [National Green Tribunal]...are all which require budgetary allocations that are authorised by the Delhi government. Hence, the role of the elected governments becomes extremely necessary in this regard”.

The National Green Tribunal’s decision violated federal principles governing the National Capital Territory of Delhi, as it stripped the elected government of its authority to allocate finances, Live Law quoted the Aam Aadmi Party government as stating.