The Aam Aadmi Party vs Centre tussle is almost a decade old. The tussle often reaches the Supreme Court. Now, in a fresh setback for the AAP, the Supreme Court has ruled that the Lieutenant Governor can nominate aldermen in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) without the Delhi government’s advice. The apex court bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha and Justice JB Pardiwala noted that the LG’s power to nominate members to the MCD is a statutory power and not an executive power.
Pronouncing the verdict, Justice Narasimha said Section 3(3)(b) of Delhi Municipal Corporation Act lays down that the Lieutenant Governor can nominate 10 persons not less than 25 years of age. The nominated person should have special knowledge or experience in municipal administration.
The judge noted that the power in Delhi LG was a semantic lottery. “It is a law made by the Parliament, it satisfies the discretion exercised by LG since law requires him to do so and falls under the exception of Article 239. It was 1993 DMC Act which first vested the power to nominate on LG and it is not a relic of the past,” said the justice.
The judge said that Parliament has conferred LG with power to nominate 10 aldermen and the Delhi Government by AAP cannot quarrel with that.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) consists of 250 elected members and 10 nominated members. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) currently governs the MCD after securing 134 seats in the 2022 elections, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 104 seats. Last year, the Supreme Court indicated that allowing the Lieutenant Governor to nominate aldermen to the MCD could potentially destabilize the elected municipal body.
The AAP reacted sharply to the verdict. “I think this is a very big blow to Indian democracy and by bypassing the elected government, you are giving all the rights to LG. I think this is not good for democracy and the Constitution of India. I want to say with due respect that we completely disagree with this decision. This decision is against the spirit of democracy and it is completely opposite to the comments of the court during the hearing,” said AAP MP Sanjay Singh, that the party will decide the next course of action after reading the full order.
