The Government of Delhi, officially the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) is the governing body of the Union Territory of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

, whose urban area is the seat of the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

. It also governs the city or local governments in the area as per the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act. Union Territories are governed by the Union Government. There are a few exceptions, such as Delhi and Puducherry which also have their own elected governments with some limitations. Through the highly controversial

GNCTD Amendment Act, 2021 The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2021 (or the GNCTD Amendment Act) was enacted by the Government of India on 28 March 2021. It amends the ''Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991'' to give p ...

, the Union Government mandated primacy to the centrally appointed Lieutenant Governor and made the elected government subsidiary.

Local governments

The local or city government is headed by the mayor. The

Municipal Corporation of Delhi Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is the municipal corporation that governs most of Delhi, India. The MCD is among the largest municipal bodies in the world providing civic services to an estimated population of more than 11 million citiz ...

handled civic administration for the city, and had one mayor. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi was trifurcated into three bodies, the

North Delhi Municipal Corporation North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) was one of the municipal corporations in Delhi, India created after the former Municipal Corporation of Delhi was trifurcated in 2012. It occupied an area of which was further divided into 6 Zones (Ro ...

, the

South Delhi Municipal Corporation South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) was one of the municipal corporations in Delhi, India created after the former Municipal Corporation of Delhi was trifurcated in 2012. It occupied an area of which was further divided into 4 Zones (Ce ...

and the East Delhi Municipal Corporation in 2012. But then, they were reunified on 22 May 2022. The Delhi Cantonment Board is also a municipality that has jurisdiction in the city, since cantonment boards are municipalities as per the Cantonment Board Act 2006 and are under control of the Ministry of Defence.

Government of NCT of Delhi

The Chief Minister and lieutenant Governor are the heads of the Government. The government consists of the legislative wing, i.e. the present

Legislative Assembly of Delhi The Delhi Legislative Assembly, also known as the Delhi Vidhan Sabha, is a unicameral legislature of the union territory of Delhi in India. Delhi Legislative Assembly is the legislative arm of the Government of Delhi. At present, it consists o ...

, which is

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

, consisting of 70

members of the legislative assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. ...

History

The

was first constituted on 17 March 1952 under the Government of Part C States Act, 1951, but it was abolished on 1 October 1956. Its legislative assembly was re-established in the year of 1993, after the Constitution (Sixty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1991 came into force, followed by the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 2021 the Sixty-ninth Amendment to the

Constitution of India The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ...

, declared the Union Territory of Delhi to be formally known as

National Capital Territory of Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. The first chief minister of Delhi was Ch. Braham Prakash (INC) and the first woman CM was

Sushma Swaraj Sushma Swaraj () (''née'' Sharma; 14 February 1952 – 6 August 2019) was an Indian lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as the Minister of External Affairs of India in the first Narendra Modi government from 2014 to 2019. She is only ...

of BJP.

Sheila Dikshit Sheila Dikshit () (née Kapoor; 31 March 1938 – 20 July 2019) was an Indian politician. The longest-serving Chief Minister of Delhi, as well as the longest-serving female chief minister of any Indian state, she served for a period of 15 ye ...

(INC) has been the chief minister for the maximum times (three) and oversaw immense development of the city during her tenure. Guru Radha Kishan (CPI) had the rare distinction of representing his constituency in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for most years continuously by an individual and Ch. Prem Singh (INC) has won the maximum elections for different civic bodies in Delhi.

Ministers

As per article 239AA of

Indian Constitution The Constitution of India (IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ri ...

, the number of ministers cannot exceed ten percent of Delhi assembly seats. Therefore, there can be a maximum of seven m Ministers (10% of 70 Delhi assembly seats).

Central government

The

Lieutenant Governor of Delhi The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi is the constitutional head of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The post was first established in September 1966, when The Delhi Administration Act, 1966 came into effect. Thus the former Delhi Legislativ ...

is appointed by the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...

., as agent of President and head of state like governor, on the advice of the Central government. This state government is called the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Government of NCT of Delhi or simply Government of Delhi). It consists of an

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

, led by the

, a

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

and a

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

Central versus State

The Supreme Court of India in '' Government of NCT of Delhi v. Union of India'' ruled that according to the Article 239AA of the

Indian constitution The Constitution of India (IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ri ...

, that although the government had to keep him/her informed of its decisions, Delhi's lieutenant governor did not have any independent decision-making powers and had to follow the "aid and advice" of the

chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

-led council of ministers of the Government of Delhi on matters which the

Delhi Legislative Assembly The Delhi Legislative Assembly, also known as the Delhi Vidhan Sabha, is a unicameral legislature of the union territory of Delhi in India. Delhi Legislative Assembly is the legislative arm of the Government of Delhi. At present, it consists o ...

could legislate on, viz., all items on the

State List The State List or List-II is a list of 61 items. Initially there were 66 items in the list in Schedule Seven to the Constitution of India. The legislative section is divided into three lists: the Union List, the State List and the Concurrent List ...

(items on which only state legislatures can legislate) and the Concurrent List (items on which both the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the ...

and the state legislatures can legislate) barring 'police, 'public order' and 'land'. The court added that on matters referred to him/her, the LG was bound to follow the orders of the president.

Judiciary

The

Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi ( IAST: ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966'', with four judges, Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S ...

has jurisdiction over Delhi, which also has two types of lower courts: the

Small Causes Court In Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi cities, the Small Causes Court is responsible for adjudicating matters related to civil cases. The court is responsible for cases relating to tax, (family matters are not dealt by small causes court), property ...

for civil cases, and the

Sessions Court A Sessions Court or even known as the Court of Sessions Judge is a court of law which exists in several Commonwealth countries. A Court of Session is the highest criminal court in a district and the court of first instance for trying serious offe ...

for criminal cases. Like other Union territories, the Delhi Police reports to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India and not the government of NCT of Delhi. Headed by the Police Commissioner, it is one of the largest metropolitan police forces in the world. The headquarters of Delhi Police are located Jai Singh Marg,

Connaught Place, New Delhi Connaught Place, officially known as Rajiv Chowk, is one of the main financial, commercial and business centres in New Delhi, Delhi, India. It houses the headquarters of several noted Indian firms and is a major shopping, nightlife and tourist ...

References

External links

* {{Delhi Government of Delhi