Madras high court tells Kiran Bedi to not interfere in Puducherry government’s affairs; chief minister asks governor to resign 

Kiran Bedi.

New Delhi: The Madras high court, on Tuesday, directed that Puducherry lieutenant governor Kiran Bedi “cannot interfere” in the day-to-day affairs of the elected government of the Union territory and said the restrictions imposed on the government of Delhi were not applicable in this case.

While referring to the Supreme Court’s judgment on the tussle between Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and lieutenant governor Anil Baijal, Justice R Mahadevan said the restrictions imposed on the government of Delhi were not applicable to the government of Puducherry. He also said decisions taken by the council of ministers and the chief minister are “binding” on secretaries and other officials.

Chief minister V Narayanasamy, who has not been on good terms with Bedi, called the decision a “victory” of democracy.

Meanwhile, Bedi, in a WhatsApp message to the media, said, “We are examining the judgment, after which we shall take a view.”

The development came as Justice Mahadevan allowed a petition filed by K Laksminarayanan, a Congress MLA, and set aside two communications the Union ministry of home affairs had issued in January and June 2017 “elevating” the power of the administrator.

Lakshminarayanan had said, “She (Bedi) conducts review meetings with the officials directly, bypassing the elected government, carries out inspections and issues on-the-spot orders and thereby runs a parallel and diametrically opposite government within the government.”

The court’s judgement was followed by Narayanasamy’s demand that Kiran Bedi should resign from her post for “stalling” development activities. He said he brought Bedi's interference to the notice of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, and the Union home minister, Rajnath Singh, but to no avail.

He added, “The prime minister always talks about cooperative federalism, but believes in dictatorship.”

Narayanasamy said, “This is a historic judgment. This is a slap on the face of the Narendra Modi government and also the administrator, Kiran Bedi, who has been behaving in an erratic manner flouting all constitutional norms, denigrating the institution of the administrator and trying to usurp the powers of the elected government.”

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