The Supreme Court has upheld the Delhi Lieutenant Governor’s (L-G) decision to appoint aldermen to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) independently, without the involvement of the elected Delhi government.
The ruling came after a bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, along with Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala, had deliberated on the matter since May last year.
The Delhi government had challenged the L-G’s unilateral appointment of ten nominated members to the MCD, arguing that such actions bypassed the elected government’s authority.
Supreme Court Rules L-G Has Discretionary Power To Nominate MCD Aldermen
Delivering the judgment, Justice Narasimha explained that the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, as enacted by Parliament, allows the L-G to act at his discretion in this capacity.
The court stated, “Section 3(3)(b) of the Act explicitly empowers the Lieutenant Governor to nominate individuals with specialized knowledge to the Corporation. This power is a statutory duty of the Lieutenant Governor, not an executive function of the state.”
The Delhi government had contended that this was the first instance since the introduction of Article 239AA in 1991 where the L-G made such nominations without consulting the elected government, thereby transferring authority to an unelected office.
The plea points out that Section 3(3)(b)(i) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, requires the MCD to include ten experts in municipal administration nominated by the administrator, but it does not specify that this nomination must be at the administrator’s discretion.
The government argued that constitutional law has long required nominal heads of state to exercise their powers based on the aid and advice of the council of ministers.
Defending the L-G’s decision, the L-G office argued that municipal governance operates independently from the elected state government system.
It emphasized that the role of the L-G as an administrator under the DMC Act does not align with the provisions of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD Act) or Article 239AA of the Constitution.
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