Puducherry L-G Kiran Bedi can't interfere with govt's day-to-day activities: Madras HC

Puducherry, Apr 30: The Madras High Court on Tuesday ruled that Lieutenant Governor (LG) Kiran Bedi "does not have power to interfere with the day to day activities of the Union Territory government."

The Bench quashed the directives given by the Union Ministry, which empowered the Lt Governor to interfere in the day to day activities of the Puducherry government and seek govt related files.

The Madras High Court order verdict came on a writ petition filed by Puducherry Congress MLA Lakshminarayanan in 2017 questioning Puducherry Lieutenant Governor's (L-G) powers to interfere in day-to-day administration of the union territory despite the presence of a council of ministers.

The Congress government and Bedi were at logger heads for a long time. The Chief Minister launched a six-day agitation against the alleged interference in state policies. He also received support from his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, who said Delhi was facing a similar situation. Narayanasamy had accused Bedi of working on the Centre's orders to disrupt the functioning of his government.

With reference to the power tussle, the Supreme Court had clarified last year that the case of Puducherry could not be compared with that of Delhi as it is governed by a provision which is different from that concerning the national capital.