New Delhi: In a major setback to the Aam Admi Party, the Supreme Court of India on Monday rejected the Delhi government’s plea that LG VK Saxena be bound to act on aid and advice from the Council of Ministers to nominate 10 aldermen to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
The plea was junked by a bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala.
In the verdict, Justice Narasimha stated that the appointment of aldermen was a “statutory duty” of the LG, who is not bound by the state cabinet’s aid and advice with regards to the same matter.
Section 3(3)(b)(i) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, amended in 1993, empowers the LG to appoint aldermen, the bench stated. This authority given to the administrator of Delhi was neither a “relic of the past” nor an overreach of constitutional power, the court observed.
The apex court ruled on the plea after a nearly 15-month delay. Earlier, it had reversed its present decision. On May 17 last year, the court had observed that if the LG would be granted the authority to appoint aldermen to the MCD, it could potentially undermine an elected municipal body.
The MCD comprises 250 elected and 10 nominated members. In December 2022, the AAP ended the BJP’s 15-year dominance in the MCD elections. It secured 134 seats, while the BJP won 104 and the Congress bagged nine.
