The National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT of Delhi) is a unique administrative entity in India, defined by a special constitutional provision that grants it a status between a full state and a Union Territory. Its governance structure is a concept established by the Constitution (Sixty-Ninth Amendment) Act, 1991, which inserted Article 239AA and Article 239AB into the Constitution.
The concept originated from the need to provide a limited representative government to the capital's large population while retaining the Central Government's control over the national seat of power. The S. Balakrishnan Committee, set up in 1987, submitted its recommendations in 1989, proposing that Delhi remain a Union Territory but be conferred a special status with an elected Legislative Assembly and a Council of Ministers. This solved the problem of a lack of democratic accountability in the capital's administration.
The mechanism works through a system of diarchy, where the elected Legislative Assembly has the power to make laws on subjects in the State List and Concurrent List, except for Public Order, Police, and Land, which remain under the control of the Central Government via the Lieutenant Governor (LG). The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Act, 1991, was enacted to supplement Article 239AA and define the framework for the Assembly and Council of Ministers. The LG, appointed by the President, is the administrator and must act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers on matters where the Assembly can legislate.
The NCT of Delhi connects to the broader concept of the National Capital Region (NCR), a planning area established by the NCR Planning Board Act, 1985, which includes the NCT and surrounding districts from neighboring states. The governance structure has seen significant recent changes, notably the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2021, which clarified that the term "Government" in laws made by the Delhi Legislative Assembly refers to the Lieutenant Governor. Furthermore, the GNCTD (Amendment) Act, 2023, replaced an Ordinance to exclude "services" from the legislative competence of the Delhi Assembly and established the National Capital Civil Services Authority. These amendments have effectively expanded the LG's powers and reduced the executive control of the elected government, despite a 2023 Supreme Court judgment that had initially upheld the Delhi government's control over administrative services.