Hours after the Supreme Court upheld the right of Delhi Lieutenant Governor to appoint aldermen in MCDs, Congress leader Sandeep Dixit launched a scathing attack on the Aam Aadmi Party, saying the ruling party has lied for 8-9 years. “When the Supreme Court looked at the law, it made it clear that this right (to appoint aldermen) lies with the Lieutenant Governor. You (Aam Aadmi Party) have always been saying that the Lieutenant Governor has encroached upon your rights. It means either you did not look at the law or you are illiterate, or you deliberately broke the law while sending names for aldermen,” the Congress leader said.
“So it is proved that you are a liar, you have no understanding of the law and you play political games with the legal system. Till date it has not been proved that the AAP party, which was elected on the basis of truth, honesty and morality, has done any work without corruption, without lies. Unfortunately, a party that emerged out of a movement, in my opinion, has been a misfortune for Delhi and the country,” he said.
Earlier today, the apex court ruled that Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena can appoint aldermen in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) without the consent of the AAP-led government. The court said that the LG has the power to nominate members in the MCD without the aid and advice of the AAP cabinet.
The matter was heard by a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice PS Narasimha. The court explained that this power comes from the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act.
The court said, “It is wrong to say that the power of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi was a mere lottery. It is a law made by Parliament, it satisfies the discretion exercised by the Lieutenant Governor as he is required to do by law and it falls within the exception to Article 239. It was the MCD Act of 1993 which for the first time conferred the power to nominate on the Lieutenant Governor and it is not a relic of the past.”
The Delhi government led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had challenged the Lieutenant Governor’s decision to nominate aldermen to the MCD without the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha, JB Pardiwala had reserved its verdict in the case on May 17 last year.
The MCD has 250 elected and 10 nominated members. In December 2022, the AAP defeated the BJP in the municipal elections, winning 134 wards and ending the saffron party’s 15-year rule over the MCD. The BJP won 104 seats and the Congress finished third with nine seats.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the Delhi government, had argued that the state government has not been given any separate powers to nominate people to the MCD, and for the past 30 years, the practice of nominating aldermen by the LG on the aid and advice of the city government has been followed.
Then additional solicitor general Sanjay Jain, who appeared for the LG’s office, had submitted that just because a practice has been followed for 30 years, it does not mean it is correct. The bench had said giving the LG the power to nominate aldermen would effectively mean that he could destabilise the democratically elected MCD as these aldermen are appointed to the standing committees and have voting rights.