'Illegal And Unconstitutional': AAP Moves SC Against Election Held For Member Of MCD Standing Committee

The Aam Aadmi Party has approached the Supreme Court challenging the election held for a member of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s standing committee. The move came after Delhi Chief Minister Atishi accused the BJP of “murdering” democracy and claimed that the election held on September 27 was “illegal and unconstitutional”.

The BJP won the last vacant seat of the MCD’s 18-member standing committee unopposed as the councillors of the ruling AAP abstained from voting. The saffron party recently moved the apex court seeking an urgent hearing on its plea to initiate contempt proceedings against Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi over the election to fill the vacancy in the MCD’s standing committee.

At a press conference on Saturday (September 28), Atishi said the AAP will approach the SC against the election. “The country runs by the Constitution and laws, not by hooliganism. So the BJP should stop murdering democracy,” she said, adding the standing committee member’s election was held in violation of the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, 1957.

According to rules, only the mayor can decide the date and place for the election of the MCD standing committee members and only the mayor can preside over a meeting of the MCD councillors for the election, she said.

Reacting to her allegations, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said the chief minister’s remarks were “completely driven by political self-interest” and aimed at spreading “confusion”. “Atishi should know that under section 45 of the DMC Act, the formation of the standing committee is mandatory. Under section 487, the LG and the municipal commissioner have the authority to convene a meeting of the corporation under special circumstances and they can appoint a presiding officer for the meeting,” he said.

On August 5, the top court ruled that the law “expressly enables” the lieutenant governor to nominate aldermen to the MCD and he was not bound by the advice of the council of ministers in the matter. It had rejected the Delhi government’s plea challenging this power to nominate 10 aldermen in the MCD without the aid and advice of the council of ministers.