Supreme Court allows Centre to extend tenure of Delhi Chief Secretary; says move prima facie not illegal

The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the Central government to extend the tenure of the incumbent Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said that the move by the Central government to extend Kumar's tenure appeared to be prima facie legal.

"We have come to the conclusion that at this stage bearing in mind the provisions of the Constitution Bench Judgment and the subsequent enactment of Services Act, the decision of the Central government to extend the services of incumbent chief secretary for 6 months cannot be construed to be violative of law," the Court noted in its order.

The Court was hearing a plea filed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government opposing the extension of the incumbent Chief Secretary's tenure.

The Court said that the role of the Delhi Chief Secretary is distinct as the position is responsible for subjects both within and outside the purview of the Delhi government.

Thus, the Court ruled that tenure extension rules applicable to AGMUT cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers would not apply to Delhi Chief Secretary as they would apply only to officers whose functions do not extend to subjects outside the control of the Delhi government.

Therefore, the Court concluded that prima facie, the Central government's move to extend Naresh Kumar's tenure was not violative of law.

However, the Court clarified that its evaluation was limited to the prima facie nature without getting into conclusive adjudication of issues pending before a Constitution Bench of the Court.

The Court was referring to the fact that the dispute between the Delhi government and Central government in relation to the power to oversee the transfer, posting and disciplinary proceedings against civil servants in Delhi is pending before a Constitution Bench. This includes challenge to the validity of the recent Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2023 which effectively overruled and nullified the Supreme Court’s verdict.

The bench had on Tuesday questioned the Central government about necessity of extending the tenure of the incumbent secretary, Naresh Kumar.

The CJI had asked Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta as to why the government was 'stuck' on only one person to be Chief Secretary of Delhi.

The top court had asked the Central government to demonstrate its power to extend the Chief Secretary's tenure.

During the hearing on Wednesday, Senior Advocate AM Singhvi, appearing for Delhi government, emphasized that the apex court's 2020 and 2023 judgments on services in Delhi had said that the Central government had to make the appointment with participation by the Delhi government.

On extension of tenure, he argued that All India Services Rules clarify that extension are to be made by the concerned State government.

SG Mehta argued that such extensions are routine, citing 57 instances over the past decade and maintaining that the authority to extend the tenure of Chief Secretaries resides with the Central government.

Singhvi pointed out that of the 57 instances highlighted by Mehta, only one involved the Chief Secretary of Delhi, and that too had happened during President's rule.

He insisted that that a new appointment be made by the Chief Minister and the Lieutenant governor from a pool of ten candidates.

After hearing the parties, the Court gave a prima facie opinion that the Central government has the authority and power to appoint Delhi Chief Secretary and to extend his tenure.