NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday questioned the “tearing hurry” on the part of the Lieutenant-Governor’s office for holding the polls for the sixth member of the MCD’s standing committee and “interfering” with the electoral process.
A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and R Mahadevan also asked L-G VK Saxena not to hold the election for the post of chairman of Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s standing committee till the next hearing.
The court expressed concern over the exercise of power under Section 487 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act. The rule permits the L-G to intervene in the MCD functioning. However, the court questioned the legitimacy of using this power to influence the electoral process.
“Where do you (L-G) get the power to interdict the electoral process?” the bench asked, noting that such actions could jeopardize democracy.
The bench issued a notice to the L-G office, seeking a response within two weeks on a plea filed by Mayor Shelly Oberoi. The plea challenges the September 27 polls, in which the BJP won a seat on the standing committee unopposed.
AAP councillors had abstained, leading to the BJP victory. The court stressed that it was forced to take up the matter due to the L-G’s use of power under Section 487.
Senior advocate Sanjay Jain, representing the L-G, raised objections to the petition’s maintainability, arguing that elections can only be contested through election petitions.
In her petition, Oberoi argued that the L-G’s office had overstepped by asking the municipal commissioner to preside over the polls, a role that traditionally belongs to the mayor.
“We have serious doubts about the legality and validity of your (L-G’s) powers,” the bench said.
Jain, counsel for the L-G’s office, said he was raising a preliminary objection to the maintainability of the petition because the elections can only be challenged by way of an election petition.
He submitted that the mayor postponed the election to October 5 in violation of the court’s direction of filling the vacancy within a month.
‘Prima facie wrong’
The SC bench said it could see there was politics involved.
“The exercise of power under Section 487 of the DMC Act and the way elections were held in the absence of mayor was prima facie wrong," it said.