Delhi Ordinance Supreme Court: The Ordinance creates a new statutory authority – the National Capital Civil Service Authority (NCCSA). The Supreme Court Thursday agreed to hear the Delhi Government’s plea challenging the constitutional validity of the ordinance brought in by the Centre with regard to control over services in the national capital on July 10. Senior Advocate A M Singhvi mentioned the plea before a bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and Manoj Mishra which then listed it for hearing next week. The Delhi Government had approached the SC against the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023 (‘Impugned Ordinance), promulgated on May 19, and prayed for an immediate interim stay saying it “completely sidelines the elected Government, i.e. the GNCTD, from control over its civil service”. It “wrests control over civil servants serving in the Government of NCT of Delhi (GNCTD) from the GNCTD to the unelected Lieutenant Governor ( LG)”, the plea said. The ordinance, added the plea, does so without seeking to amend the Constitution of India, in particular Article 239AA, from which flows the substantive requirement that power and control in respect of Services be vested in the elected government. “It is not in contention that Article 239AA confers legislative competence over ‘Services’ concurrently on the Delhi Assembly as also the Parliament. However, it is a fundamental precept of the Constitution that the question of competence is distinct from the validity of legislation passed in exercise of such competence,” the Delhi Government said. The ordinance, “by violating the substantive requirements of Article 239AA of the Constitution as interpreted by two Constitution Benches of” the SC “fails to be a valid exercise of competence”, according to the plea.