NEW DELHI: BJP leader Karan Singh Tanwar today took oath as member and vice-chairman of NDMC on a day the Delhi High Court decided to expedite the hearing on a plea of an AAP MLA challenging his appointment.
"NDMC Chairman Naresh Kumar administered the oath of faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India to Karan Singh Tanwar who took over as Vice-Chairman and Member of the council in a special meeting today," New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) spokesperson Jagjivan Bakshi said.
Ignoring AAP government's recommendation, the Centre had nominated Tanwar as the vice-chairman of NDMC through a notification issued on July 8 by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The BJP-led Centre had rejected the name of senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Gopal Mohan, recommended by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
As chief minister and member of NDMC, Kejriwal has the authority to recommend a name for the vice-chairperson's post.
Following Tanwar's appointment, AAP MLA Surinder Singh had moved Delhi High Court challenging Tanwar's appointment and sought its cancellation.
In his petition, Singh had said, "the petitioner is aggrieved by the biased and illegal action of the respondents in appointing Karan Singh Tanwar as member and vice-chairperson of the NDMC in a prima facie biased manner in blatant and utter disregard of the procedure prescribed under section 4 of NDMC Act".
A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath today directed the judge hearing Singh's plea to hear the matter "on the ground of urgency" raised in the petition.
Interestingly, Tanwar has also filed a plea against Singh in the HC alleging that he has a fake graduation degree.
A three-time former BJP MLA from Delhi Cant Assembly constituency, Tanwar was appointed as Vice-Chairman of NDMC on September 7 last year but had to resign from the post to contest the Assembly polls, in which he was defeated by Singh.
According to the NDMC Act, the Council comprises 13 members, of which four are nominated and three are elected. The four are nominated by the central government in consultation with the Delhi Chief Minister.
The rest are officers with central and Delhi governments.
The elected members include BJP MP from New Delhi Meenakshi Lekhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and AAP MLA Surinder Singh.