The Supreme Court of India on Monday, August 5, upheld the Delhi lieutenant governor’s decision to nominate 10 ‘aldermen’ to the municipal corporation of Delhi (MCD) and said that the LG’s decision to nominate 10 ‘aldermen’ in MCD does not need aid and advice of the council of ministers.
In a setback to the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government, a bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala ruled that the Parliament has statutorily conferred on LG the power to nominate 10 aldermen to MCD. The apex court said that the LG’s power to nominate members to the MCD is a "statutory power and not an executive power".
Justice Narasimha said in a judgment that one such power is conferred on LG, the AAP government can't have a say on this issue. In 2023, the apex court said giving the LG the power to nominate aldermen to the MCD would mean he could destabilize an elected civic body. The MCD has 250 elected and 10 nominated members.
In December 2022, AAP 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. BJP won 104 seats and Congress finished a distant third with nine.