Judgement On LG's Powers To Nominate MCD Members Likely To Come This Week : Supreme Court Tells Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi

The Supreme Court today (July 29) adjourned to next Monday the petition filed by the Mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to allow the Corporation to exercise the functions of the Standing Committee.

A bench led by the Chief Justice of India said that the judgment on the Delhi Government's challenge to the Lieutenant Governor's unilateral nomination of members to the MCD council is likely to be pronounced coming Friday.

CJI DY Chandrachud told Senior Advocate AM Singhvi, representing Mayor Shelly Oberoi :

"Dr Singhvi, please wait until Friday, the Judgement may be pronounced. We will keep it( present matter) on Monday." 

In the previous hearing,  Singhvi, appearing for the petitioner, told the bench that the Standing Committee is performing various vital functions and any decision having an expenditure of Rs 5 crores, including the midday meals scheme for the school children, has to go through the Standing Committee.The Court was informed that the standing counsel has not been functioning presently.

He explained that the Standing Committee consists of 18 members, out of whom six members are directly elected by the corporation. The remaining twelve members are elected by an electoral college which includes ten members who have been nominated by the Lieutenant Governor (LG). According to the petitioner, the members nominated by the LG cannot be allowed to elect the Standing Committee members. Singhvi, along with his briefing counsel Advocate-on-Record Shadan Farasat, told the bench that the Court, in May last year, reserved judgment on the issue whether the LG can nominate members unilaterally without the consent of the Delhi Government. 

Pertinently, this judgment was reserved in the Delhi Government's petition.

As per the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 (DMC Act), these ten disputed members are also entitled to vote in the Standing Committee elections. Given that this will substantially impact the elections, the committee has not been constituted yet. 

Considering the functions performed by the Standing Committee are at a halt, Mayor Shelly Oberoi, belonging to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has moved the Supreme Court for relief.

“In view of the Petitioner's constitutional responsibilities to the citizens of Delhi, the present Petition has been preferred to seek a direction that the functions of the Standing Committee pending the adjudication of the legality of the process of appointment of its electors be exercised by the House of the MCD, i.e. the 'Corporation' composed of all the elected councilors as defined in Section 3(3)(a) of the DMC Act,” the petition stated.

Underscoring the prevailing situation, Oberoi, in her petition, has also argued that several amenities have been affected. Some of them include the procurement of textbooks and medical supplies for MCD's schools and health centres and the maintenance of public parks and public toilets. 

The petition also mentioned a recent resolution passed by the Corporation, resolving that approvals for contracts involving expenditure greater than Rs 5 crores, including where approval will be normally routed through the Standing Committee, be taken by the competent authorities directly from the Corporation. This was passed to alleviate the situation and preserve the interests of the citizens in Delhi.

Further, it has also been stressed that the corporation, being the body superior to the Standing Committee in both power and accountability, should exercise the functions of the Committee in its meetings. At the cost of repetition, it may be noted that such relief has been sought only till the Committee can be constituted

CASE DETAILS: MAYOR, MUNICIPAL CORPORATION OF DELHI vs. THE OFFICE OF THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF DELHI W.P.(C) No. 73/2024