Context
A two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court referred to a Constitution Bench a series of appeals filed by the Delhi government for laying down the law on whether the Lieutenant Governor (LG) can unilaterally administer the National Capital — without being bound by the “aid and advice” of the elected government
Appeals referred
A Bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and R.K. Agrawal referred the appeals to the Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar, who will constitute a Constitution Bench of the appropriate number of judges
The burning question
A question that arises now is whether the appeals would have to be heard by an eleven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court. This is because a nine-judge Bench of the court had, in 1996, in the NDMC versus State of Punjab case, recognised Delhi as a Union Territory for taxation purposes.
