SC To Hear AAP Govt’s Plea Against Delhi LG’s Nod To Teachers’ Training In Finland On April 14

The Supreme Court will hear on April 14 a petition filed by the AAP government against the approval by the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi to send teachers to Finland for training with conditions.

Senior advocate AM Singhvi, appearing for the AAP government, mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and sought urgent hearing.

“The LG is deciding which teachers to send, how to send and when. This is related to the teachers’ training programme,” Singhvi said.

The top court said it will hear the matter on April 14.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena had in March given in-principle approval to the city government’s proposal to send primary teachers of government schools to Finland for training.

Seeking to quash the order issued by the LG, the petition urged the bench to “issue a declaration that the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi is bound to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers”.

The petition claims that the LG has “unreasonably and willfully delayed” the proposal sent by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), Delhi government, to send primary in-charge teachers of government schools for training . For Finland in the months of December 2022 and March 2023.

The plea claimed, “His comments have sought an effective ban on holding such events in future.”

It claimed that the proposal was submitted to the LG on October 25, 2022, but it was approved five months later on March 4, 2023, when it became infructuous, that too with several modifications and conditions.

It was claimed that while granting the approval, the LG stated that such teachers trained during the said program would become trainers in India only, and there would be no need for such training abroad in future. The petition claims that the LG has suggested that they should be held within India.

The petition states, “In this context, the petition seeks to re-declare the well-settled position of law that the Governor is bound to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers and has no independent decision doesn’t have the power.” ,

It claimed that the said amendments/conditions attached to the approval were against the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.

The above amendments/conditions not only spoil the decision making process of the government of that time but also restrict its functioning in the education sector.

It said that by imposing the above conditions and amendments, the LG has “illegally and unconstitutionally” assumed the role of an appellate authority.

It added, “With proper campaign files, the LG is effectively exercising pocket veto power in areas over which the elected government has exclusive executive power.”

In his acceptance, Saxena had said that the Arvind Kejriwal government had refused to bring on record an “impact assessment of foreign training programs conducted in the past”.

Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has approved the proposal of the Education Department for a training program for primary in-charges in Finland. Taking the approach of equal benefit for all, the LG has increased the number of primary in-charges from 52 to 87 to ensure equal representation of primary in-charges from all 29 administrative regions, who were to go to Finland for training. Education Department,” an official from the LG’s office had said.

“With this, 87 primary in-charges – three in-charges from each of the 29 administrative regions – will be selected for the training programme, while 52 primary in-charges were arbitrarily selected by the government,” the official said. ,

The issue triggered a war of words between the LG’s office and the government, with the AAP government accusing Saxena of interfering in the work of the government.

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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)