In what is seen as a major blow to the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party Government in Delhi, the Supreme Court held, on Monday, that the statute clearly permits the Lieutenant Governor to appoint aldermen to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi without consulting the Council of Ministers. A Bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala struck down the Delhi government's plea challenging the LG's power to nominate ten aldermen to the MCD without consulting council of ministers.
The Supreme Court pronounced its judgment on this issue after sitting over the case for almost 15 months. The order will throw light on the growing tension between the LG office and the AAP-run Delhi government. The court said the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, as amended on 1993, "unambiguously" provides for the LG to appoint such individuals to the corporation.
The bench said the authority of the LG, as provided under the statute, manifests in distributing the powers among several authorities under the Act. Justice Narasimha, speaking for the judgment, explained how the role of the LG in this context is one dictated by the statute and not something that would be steered by the council of ministers. It is a statutory duty vested within the LG and not an executive function of the State.
It is the 1993 amendment to the 1957 Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, which first vest the LG with power to nominate aldermen, like what the speaker of the House exercises in giving power for the nomination of MLAs.
The court also took note of the fact that the 1993 amendment listed five authorities under the Act: the Central Government, the NCT government, the administrator, the corporation, and the commissioner. All it did was reconstitute powers and duties among these authorities in relation to their functions under the law.
The Supreme Court had, on May 17, observed that allowing the LG to appoint aldermen might defeat an elected civic body. MCD has 250 elected members and 10 nominated members.
In the municipal elections December 2022, AAP thrashed the BJP by winning 134 wards and breaking the saffron party's reign over the MCD for the last 15 years. The BJP won 104 seats and the Congress ended up with nine.
While the hearing was in progress, senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the Delhi government, told the bench that the Delhi government had been constituting aldermen on the advice of the LG for the last 30 years. But the additional solicitor general Sanjay Jain for the LG's office countered that 'past practice' is one thing but it does not justify correctness.
The court had, on an earlier date, sought to know if the LG possessed the constitutional and legal power to appoint the aldermen independently without the advice of the elected government. On May 12, the court had sought to make it clear that LG should nominate the aldermen based on the advice of the council of ministers belonging to the elected government of Delhi.
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