The lieutenant governor of Delhi does not need any aid or advice from the state council of ministers to nominate aldermen to the municipal corporation, the Supreme Court held on Monday, reported Bar and Bench.
Aldermen are nominated members of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi who are tasked with assisting the House in decisions of public importance. They are appointed by the lieutenant governor.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala was hearing a plea by the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government challenging Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena’s decision to nominate 10 aldermen to the civic body.
“It was 1993 Delhi Municipal Corporation Act which first vested the power to nominate on Lieutenant Governor,” the court said on Monday, reported Bar and Bench. “The power expressed by the statute on lieutenant governor shows the statutory schemes in which power is distributed. Delhi lieutenant governor is expected to act as per the mandate of the statute and not the aid and advice of council of ministers.”
The law requires him to do so and it is covered by the exception to Article 239 of the Constitution, which empowers the president of India to administer Union territories, the bench said.
In its plea, the Delhi government had contended that it was the first time since Article 239 came into effect in 1991 that such a nomination had been made by the lieutenant governor, completely bypassing the elected government.
The lieutenant governor has only two courses of action: to either accept the proposed names recommended to him for nomination by the elected government or differ with the proposal and refer it to the president, said the plea.
The appointments were made after the Aam Aadmi Party, in December 2022, defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party in the civic polls. The party won 134 seats as against the BJP’s 104 in the 250-member House.
All the ten aldermen appointed by Saxena belonged to the BJP.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a letter to Saxena, had alleged that the aldermen’s appointment appeared to have been an attempt to influence elections to the municipal corporation’s standing committee.
“...The attempt quite clearly is to ensure that the composition of the standing committee is skewed in favour of the persons belonging/owing allegiance to the ruling party at the Centre,” Kejriwal had alleged.
Responding to the top court’s verdict on Monday, Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh told reporters: “The comments of the honourable judges during the hearing of this case were contrary to this decision. This decision is unfortunate. We respectfully disagree with the decision of the honourable Supreme Court.”
The court’s decision had clarified the lieutenant governor’s powers, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Lok Sabha MP from Delhi’s Chandni Chowk told PTI.
“But AAP [Aam Aadmi Party] has the habit to accuse others,” he said. “There should be immediate constitution of standing committee for smooth conduct of work in Delhi.”
Congress leader and former Lok Sabha MP for East Delhi Sandeep Dikshit said that the Aam Aadmi Party had often accused the lieutenant governor of encroaching upon the state government’s rights but Monday’s verdict shows that they did not look at the law.
“This [verdict] means that either you [Aam Aadmi Party] did not look at the law or you are illiterate, or you deliberately broke the law when you sent the names for the aldermen,” he told ANI.
Dikshit is the son of former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!