The Supreme Court on Friday expressed reservations over the manner in which Delhi's Lieutenant General (LG) Vinai Kumar Saxena had interfered in an election process for the appointment of the sixth member of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) standing committee Issuing notice to the office of the LG, on a plea by Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi challenging the election held on September 27 in which the BJP candidate had returned successfully, a bench of Justices P S Narasimha and R Mahadevan was critical of the exercise of power under Section 487 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act by the office of LG for holding the poll for the member of standing committee on September 27. The bench orally asked Lt Governor’s counsel Sanjay Jain to not to hold the elections till the matter is heard next.
"Section 487 is an executive power. Where do you (LG) get the power to interdict the electoral process. It is not for interfering with the legislative functions. It is the election of a member. What happens to democracy if you keep interfering like this? Democracy will be in danger," the bench observed during the brief hearing. Section 487 of the DMC Act allows the Delhi Lieutenant Governor to intervene in the functioning of the municipal corporation.
The bench, which sought the response of LG's office in two weeks on the plea of Mayor Shelly Oberoi against the September 27 standing committee polls, told senior advocate Sanjay Jain, appearing for the office of LG, "We will view it seriously if you hold an election for the MCD Standing Committee chairman."
It said that initially the court was not inclined to entertain this petition as everyone would start rushing to the Supreme Court but had to issue notice because of exercise of powers under Section 487 of the DMC Act by the LG.
"Our initial view was why should we entertain Article 32 petition but after looking into the matter, we thought this is a matter where we have to issue notice, particularly in view of the manner in which the powers under Section 487 was exercised," the bench said. "We have serious serious doubts about the legality and validity of your (LG's) powers," it added.
The Supreme Court said that there are other issues also which it needs to go into with regard to certain decisions of the mayor. Jain, counsel for the LG's office, said that he was raising a preliminary objection with regard to the maintainability of the petition because the elections have taken place and they can only be challenged by way of election petition.
Reacting to this, the AAP on Friday alleged that Lt Governor Vinai Kumar saxena is "working under a planned conspiracy" against the Delhi government after the Supreme Court questioned his "tearing hurry" in holding the election for the last member of MCD's Standing Committee. Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the powers exercised by the LG to hold the Standing Committee election at 10 pm on September 27 after Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi had postponed were wrong.
"What the LG has done is a very shameful act. The BJP was in power in MCD for 15 years, but then the people decided that now they wanted to see AAP in the civic body. But the BJP is trying to get power by all means, and for that, the LG himself is in the ground," Bharadwaj said. "Such a hurry shows that the LG is working under a planned conspiracy which does not suit a constitutional office," the minister added. Bharadwaj further said that someone else would have resigned from the LG post by now.
Lambasting AAP, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva on Friday said in the last two years, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has completely stalled the Delhi Municipal Corporation. The situation has become so bad that fearing defeat, the AAP is not even allowing the election for the constitutionally required Dalit Mayor as per the Municipal Corporation Act, he claimed.
Sachdeva said the AAP is showcasing the court’s questioning of the Lieutenant Governor on the election issue of the Standing Committee members as its achievement, but the court routinely issues notices and seeks responses on the petitioner's questions in such matters. The Delhi Municipal Corporation is neither fulfilling its service responsibilities nor completing any administrative work.
Since 2015, the Aam Aadmi Party's Delhi government has financially crippled the Municipal Corporation to sabotage the BJP administration, and since coming to power in 2022, they have turned the corporation into a political and legal battleground, where even the elections for the Alderman and Standing Committee members only took place after strict court orders, state BJP chief said.
Sachdeva added that, after a long wait, elections for the Ward Committees and Standing Committee of the Municipal Corporation were held under the pressure of the Supreme and High Courts. However, seeing an imminent defeat in the election for the Standing Committee chairman, the Aam Aadmi Party first did not participate in the process, and after losing, went back to court to ensure that the Standing Committee would not be formed, resulting in the corporation remaining stalled.
He said by taking every issue of the Municipal Corporation to court, the Aam Aadmi Party has not only deprived the people of Delhi of development for two years but has also obstructed the election of a Dalit Mayor as mandated by the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act.
