The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the appointment of 10 aldermen by Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) without the consent of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government. The top court said that the L-G has the power to nominate members to the MCD without the aid and advice from the AAP cabinet.
The matter was heard by a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice PS Narasimha. The court explained that the power came from the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act.
While announcing its verdict, the bench said it would be incorrect to label the power with Delhi LG as "semantic lottery". In its plea, the AAP government said that LG could not circumvent the elected government and go around making appointments in the MCD on his own.
"It is incorrect to suggest that power in Delhi Lt Governor was semantic lottery. It is the law made by the parliament, it satisfies the discretion exercised by Lt Governor since law requires him to do so and falls under exception of article 239. It was 1993 MCD Act which first vested the power to nominate on Lt Governor and is not a relic of the past," the court was quoted as saying by India Today.
The Delhi government also contended in its plea that the LG is bound to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers to nominate alderman to the MCD. As per the AAP's petition in the matter, the LG had two courses of action -- accept the proposed names recommended to him for nomination by the elected government or to differ with the proposal and refer it to the President.
The verdict in the matter came around 15 months after the Supreme Court conducted its hearing in the matter. On May 17 last year, the top court bench reserved its verdict in the matter.