SC backs Delhi L-G's right to nominate aldermen to MCD

In a major setback to Delhi’s Aam Aadmi Party government, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the law “expressly enables” the lieutenant governor to nominate aldermen to the MCD and he is not bound by the advice of the council of ministers in the matter.

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A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala rejected the Delhi government’s plea challenging the L-G’s power to nominate 10 aldermen in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi without the aid and advice of the council of ministers.

The apex court pronounced its verdict on the Delhi government’s plea after reserving it for nearly 15 months.

In its ruling impacting the fraught relationship between the L-G’s office and the AAPled Delhi government, the bench said the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act as amended in 1993 “expressly enables the L-G to nominate persons having special knowledge to the corporation”.