SC raps Delhi govt over ‘low compliance’ with its orders

The Supreme Court on Monday took a dim view of the Delhi government’s persistent disregard of its orders, lamenting that the national capital stands out for not complying with even 10% of the directions issued by the top court, regardless of whether the chief minister is “available” or not.

A bench of justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan made the scathing remarks while hearing a plea by a life convict seeking premature release, Mohd Arif , whose remission application has been pending since last year. During a previous hearing of a similar case last year, the Delhi government told the court that the process for remission was delayed because then chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was “not available” -- a reference to his arrest in the excise policy case.

“Previously, the argument was that since the CM is not available, the matter is not moving. That situation has changed now but the plea still remains pending,” said the bench, highlighting how the bureaucratic inertia persisted even after the political situation changed.

Delhi voted out Kejriwal’s AAP in this year’s assembly elections; a BJP government headed by Rekha Gupta is now in place.

The issue first cropped up in July-August 2024 when the Delhi government cited Kejriwal’s incarceration as the reason for delays in processing remission files, arguing that the chief minister’s signature was necessary for final approvals. Kejriwal was released on bail by the top court in September 2024.

However, the bench rued on Monday that Delhi’s bureaucracy had failed to show any improvement despite the change in the political situation. “It is only in Delhi that we see this. There is not a compliance of even 10% of the orders of the Supreme Court by the Delhi government. The bureaucrats in Delhi are such,” it remarked.

The remarks came as Delhi government counsel sought more time to file an affidavit by the principal secretary (home), explaining the decision made in Arif’s case. The bench fixed the next hearing for April 14 while expressing its displeasure over the continued non-compliance.

The court’s strictures came in the wake of contempt actions already initiated against the same official -- the principal secretary (home) -- in two separate but similar cases over purported misleading claims and delaying decisions despite express directions of the court.

In Arif’s case, the top court, last month issued a contempt notice to the home secretary after it emerged that a “completely false” statement was made before the court, claiming that the Sentence Review Board’s (SRB) recommendations were placed before the Lieutenant Governor. But an affidavit from Tihar Jail authorities later revealed that no decision was taken by the SRB in its December 10, 2024 meeting, and hence, the matter was never even forwarded to the LG.

The Delhi government faced similar flak in the case of another life convict, Sukhdev Yadav, one of the accused in the 2002 Nitish Katara murder case. In that matter, the court issued a contempt notice to the principal secretary (home), citing “recalcitrance” and failure to comply with a solemn assurance given to the court that the remission plea would be decided in two weeks.

Noting a pattern of delay and obfuscation in remission cases, the bench , on March 17 observed: “What is this happening? Is this the rule in Delhi government that without threat of contempt, you will not comply with court’s orders?”

Later, on March 28, the court was informed that an SRB rejected Yadav’s remission plea because he still carries “potential for committing crime”. The bench scheduled the next hearing of this case on April 22 to consider whether Yadav is entitled to release. He has been in jail since February 2005.