Supreme Court to deliver verdict on L-G’s power to appoint aldermen to Municipal Corporation of Delhi on August 5

Supreme Court to decide on Delhi LG's power to nominate MCD aldermen without Cabinet advice, impacting local democracy.

A Supreme Court Bench headed by Justice P.S. Narasimha is scheduled on Monday to pronounce its judgment Judgment by the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) of Delhi’s power to nominate aldermen to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) without the aid and advice of the Delhi Cabinet.

A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud had in May 2023, while reserving the petition filed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), orally commented that such a power would arm the L-G with muscle to destabilise a democratically-elected local body.

The AAP had moved the apex court, challenging notifications allowing the L-G the authority to use his own discretion to appoint 10 aldermen to the MCD, without the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.

Senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, appearing for the AAP, had submitted that it was a practice to appoint aldermen only on the basis of the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain, who had appeared for the L-G, had countered that there was a clear difference in the powers of the L-G under Article 239AA of the Constitution and his role as an Administrator of the national capital. He had an active role in the nomination of aldermen as per the law, the ASG said.

“There is yet another way of viewing this… By giving this power to the L-G, he can effectively destabilise the democratically-elected MCD. They will have voting power,” the court had intervened.

The Supreme Court, in a Constitution Bench judgment, had earlier clarified that the L-G did not have sweeping executive powers in the national capital, where a unique “asymmetric federal model” of governance was in existence.