AAP-BJP turf war in MCD may intensify after SC verdict on nomination of aldermen

New Delhi, Aug 5 (PTI) The Supreme Court verdict upholding the lieutenant governor’s power to nominate aldermen to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) may have far-reaching consequences for the civic body, where the AAP is in power and will likely face impediments in getting funds cleared by the standing committee in whose constitution the nominated members will have a say.

The top court on Monday dealt a major blow to the Delhi government when it rejected its plea challenging the lieutenant governor’s (LG) power to nominate 10 aldermen to the MCD.

It held that the LG was not bound by the advice of the council of ministers in the matter keeping in mind the amended provisions of the DMC Act (The Delhi Municipal Corporation Act).

The verdict assumes significance in the wake of the AAP government’s consistent stand that the LG’s power to nominate 10 aldermen to the 250-member MCD, that too without the aid and advice of the council of ministers, will adversely hamper the functioning of the civic body and its standing committee.

The verdict, which came nearly 15 months after the order was reserved, has cleared the legal impediments in the functioning of the MCD and pave the way for the constitution of the standing committee responsible for clearing projects of civic amenities, infrastructure in different wards and mid-day meal scheme for school children.

In the ruling that would impact the already fraught relationship between the LG’s office and the AAP-led Delhi government, a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala said the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, as amended in 1993, “expressly enables the LG to nominate persons having special knowledge to the corporation”.

Before reserving the verdict, the top court had observed that giving the LG the power to nominate aldermen will effectively mean that he can destabilise a democratically elected MCD because these aldermen get appointed to the standing committees and have voting power.

Earlier, the top court had questioned the “source of power” of the LG under the Constitution and the law to nominate aldermen to the MCD without the aid and advice of the elected government.

The standing committee will be able to clear financial proposals involving expenditure of Rs 5 crore and more.

Though aldermen don’t have voting rights in the meetings of the House or the mayoral polls, they play a crucial role in electing the members of the standing committee, which controls the MCD’s budget for any project worth over Rs 5 crore.

Due to the pendency of the matter in the apex court, the standing committee of the MCD was not functioning. The panel consists of 18 members, out of whom six are directly elected by the civic body. The remaining 12 members are elected by an electoral college which includes 10 members or the aldermen who are nominated by the LG.

The control over the municipal panel was a bone of contention between the AAP-controlled civic body and the LG.

The MCD has 250 elected and 10 nominated members.

In December 2022, the Aam Aadmi Party defeated the BJP in the civic elections, winning 134 wards and ending the saffron party’s 15-year run at the helm of the MCD. The BJP won 104 seats and the Congress finished a distant third with nine.

In January last year, LG V K Saxena had nominated 10 aldermen to the MCD in exercise of powers granted to him under the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, 1957.