The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the appointment of 10 aldermen by the Lieutenant Governor to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) without the aid and advice of the Delhi Government’s Cabinet. The judgment came as a major blow to the Arvind Kejriwal Government in Delhi amid tussle with the Lieutenant Governor on a host of issues. The top court pronounced its verdict on the Delhi Government’s plea after reserving it for nearly 15 months.
In its ruling impacting the fraught relationship between the LG’s office and the AAP-led Delhi Government, a Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and PS Narasimha ruled that the Delhi Lieutenant Governor is not bound by the aid and advice of the Delhi Government’s Cabinet on appointment of aldermen since his powers in that regard is derived from the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act.
The bench said the statutory power under section 3(3)(b)(i) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, as amended in 1993, empowered the LG to appoint the aldermen.
“It is the law made by Parliament, it satisfies the discretion exercised by LG since law requires him to do so and falls under exception of Article 239,” the bench held.
According to the bench, this authority with the administrator of Delhi was neither a “relic of the past ‘’ nor an overreach of constitutional authority.
The Kejriwal government had approached the court seeking the quashing of notifications through which the Lt Governor nominated 10 members to MCD on his own initiative, instead of on aid and advice of the Council of Ministers. The jdugement is expected to resolve the protracted impasse over the constitution of the MCD’s Standing Committee.
The Delhi unit of the BJP on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court saying the AAP has developed the habit of questioning anything done by the LG. At a press conference here, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said the power to appoint aldermen to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has been exercised by the LG for decades. Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh said the party “respectfully disagrees” with the Supreme Court decision and termed it a “big blow” to India’s democracy.He said the SC’s decision gives the LG the right to bypass the elected government.
Pronouncing the judgment on behalf of the bench, Justice Narasimha said the context in which the power is located confirms that the LG is intended to act as per the mandate of the statute and not guided by the aid and advice of the council of ministers. “The power to be exercised is the statutory duty of the LG and not the executive power of the state. This is how we analysed the constitutional provisions,” he said.
The bench said the DMC Act as amended in 1993 recognises five authorities exercising the state’s power and duties under the Act -- these are the Central government, the government of NCT, administrator, corporation and the commissioner.
It said the amendment Act of 1993 carries out several amendments to the original DMC Act of 1957 by which the power, duties were allocated to the authorities depending on the function they perform under the law. The bench said by way of the amendment the power of nomination of aldermen was given to LG under the provision just like the power of nomination of MLAs was given to the speaker of the House.
On May 17 last year, the court reserved its decision. It had previously warned that granting the L-G power to nominate aldermen might destabilise the democratically elected MCD.
The MCD has 250 elected and 10 nominated members. Currently, the ruling AAP controls it after winning 134 seats in the 2022 polls. The BJP holds 104 seats. In December 2022, the Aam Aadmi Party defeated the BJP in the civic elections, winning 134 wards and ending the saffron party’s 15-year run at the helm of the MCD. The BJP won 104 seats and the Congress finished a distant third with nine.