New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to deliver today its verdict on plea filed by the Delhi government challenging the decision of the Lieutenant Governor nominating ten aldermen in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) without the aid and advice of the council of ministers.
Verdict will be pronounced by a bench headed by Justice Justice PD Narasimha
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha, and JB Pardiwala has earlier reserved its verdict in the matter on May 17 last year after hearing submissions from the Delhi Government and Lieutenant Governor.
The verdict will be pronounced by a bench headed by Justice Justice PD Narasimha.
AAP won MCD elections in December 2022
The Aam Aasmi Party (AAP) won the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections in December 2022 defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had won last three civic elections, The AAP had won 136 seats in the December 2022 civic elections, while the BJP won 104 seats and Congress 9 seats. The civic body has 250 elected and 10 nominated members.
What did the Delhi government say?
The Delhi government, in its plea before the apex court, has alleged that the Delhi Lieutenant Governor on his own initiative nominated 10 aldermen to the civic body without the aid and advice of the council of ministers. Terming the decision of the LG illegal, the Delhi government has sought quashing of orders of the Delhi LG pertaining to nominations of aldermen to MCD.
Delhi government, represented by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, had told the bench that it was for the first time in the last 30 years that the Lieutenant Governor has directly appointed members in the MCD and earlier it was always based on aid and advice of the government.
LG can destablise democratically elected MCD if given power to nominate aldermen, top court earlier observed
During the hearing into the matter, the top court had observed that the Lieutenant Governor can destablise democratically elected Municipal Council of Delhi (MCD) if he is given the power to nominate aldermen because these aldermen get appointed to the standing committees and have voting power.
Earlier, hearing the matter on May 12 last year, the bench had observed that LG has to act on the “aid and advice” of the council of ministers of the Delhi government in nominating 10 aldermen to the MCD.
