New Delhi: In a setback to the Aam Aadmi Party, the Supreme Court on Monday affirmed the lieutenant governor's (LG) decision to nominate ten aldermen to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) without the aid and advice of the council of ministers. The MCD comprises 250 elected members and 10 nominated ones.
Reacting to the verdict, the AAP said it "respectfully disagrees with the SC decision", calling it a "big setback for India's democracy". "SC's decision gives LG the right to bypass elected government, not right precedent,' the party said. adding it will decide a future course of action after reading the order.
Earlier, Justice P S Narasimha, pronouncing the judgment, said the LG can independently nominate 10 aldermen to MCD and he is not required to act as per aid and advice of the elected government. The apex court said the power expressed by the statute on LG shows the statutory schemes in which power is distributed.
Justice Narasimha said it is the law made by the parliament, it satisfies the discretion exercised by LG, since the law requires him to do so and falls under the exception of Article 239. He said that it was 1993 Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, which first vested the power to nominate on the LG and it is not a relic of the past.
The apex court made it clear that the Delhi LG is expected to act as per the mandate of the statute. The detailed judgment on the matter will be uploaded later in the day.
The apex court delivered its verdict on a plea of the Aam Aadmi Party-led (AAP) Delhi government challenging the LG’s decision to nominate aldermen in the MCD without the aid and advice of the council of ministers. The verdict came nearly 15 months after the court concluded hearings on the matter.
A three-judge bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud, along with justices Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala, had reserved the verdict in the matter on May 17, last year.
During the hearing, the apex court had observed that giving the LG the power to nominate aldermen will effectively mean that he can destabilise a democratically-elected MCD because these aldermen get appointed to the standing committees and have voting power.
Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the Delhi government, had argued that the LG had bypassed this issue by ignoring the aid and advice of the state cabinet. The state government contended that this was the first instance since Article 239AA of the Constitution came into effect in 1991 where the Lieutenant Governor nominated aldermen to the MCD without consulting the elected government.
The apex court said the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, as amended in 1993, "expressly enables the LG to nominate persons having special knowledge to the corporation". Due to the pendency of the matter, the standing committee of the MCD was not functioning.
The verdict has paved the way for the constitution of the standing committee, which is responsible for clearing projects of civic amenities, infrastructure in different wards and a mid-day meal scheme for school children.
The standing committee will be able to clear financial proposals involving expenditure of Rs five crore and more. The aldermen don't have voting rights in the meetings of the House or the mayoral polls, but they play a crucial role in electing the members of the standing committee. The standing committee controls the MCD's budget for any project worth over Rs five crore.
Out of 18 members of the committee, six are directly elected by the civic body and the remaining are elected by an electoral college which includes 10 members or the aldermen who are nominated by the LG.
