Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena’s office on Wednesday said the Supreme Court judgement on aldermen appointment in the MCD calls for “soul searching and introspection” by the city Government even as it expressed hope that the civic body will expedite the process of formation of the standing committee. This is the first reaction from the LG’s office after the Supreme Court gave its verdict, which had been reserved for 15 months, on Monday.
A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud and justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala on Monday rejected the Delhi government’s plea that the LG is bound to act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers in nominating 10 aldermen to the MCD.
“The Lt. Governor V.K. Saxena has expressed the hope that with the Three-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court having categorically ruled in the matter of appointment of Aldermen, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will expeditiously take steps to put into place statutorily required bodies and processes, hitherto lying pending for the past about 19 months,” a statement from the LG Secretariat said. Accusing the Delhi government of getting into “pointless litigation”, the LG office said that the government not only wasted the time of the apex court but also “deliberately” crippled the MCD.
“This judgement calls for a soul searching and introspection by the government in power and its leaders. Public interest is paramount and cannot be sacrificed on the altar of turf battles,” the statement added. The LG office said the works pending in the corporation due to the non-formation of the standing committee, the highest decision making body of the MCD, could have cleared if the statutory committees were put in place well in time after the LG’s decision on the appointments in January last year.
It said that the LG had noted in his file on the matter that he made the appointments in pursuance of the power vested upon him as per the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, (1957), adding that the same was observed by the apex court in its ruling. “The Lt. Governor in his noting on file in the matter of appointment of Aldermen had expressly written, “in pursuance of Section 3(3)(b)(i) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, read with Article 239AA of the Constitution… I nominate following 10 persons in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
“The Supreme Court while dismissing the Writ Petition filed by GNCTD against the office of the Lt. Governor, has observed “we are of the opinion that the section of the DMC Act is a parliamentary enactment vesting the power of nomination… with the Lt. Governor,” the statement read.
“It is a matter of concern that despite the point of law and constitutional position being as clear as it were, the GNCTD decided to get into pointless litigation, in the process not only wasting the time of the Court and public money in terms of litigation fees, but also deliberately crippling the MCD, which could have done the required works had the statutory committees been put in place well in time after the LG’s decision in January, 2023,” the statement said.
The LG Secretariat further alleged that the ministers of the Delhi government have also engaged in similar “violations of due processes” by means of “motivated and pointless litigation” in the apex court in various others routine matters. It said that the constant “shadow boxing” by the Delhi government has brought crucial public services to a “grinding halt”. “Similar violation of due processes by means of motivated and pointless litigation in the Apex Court, have also been done by Ministers of the current Government in various other routine matters, wherein the position of law has been clear ever since NCTD came into existence in 1993.
