Shelly Oberoi withdraws plea on Delhi Mayor polls

The results of the MCD elections were announced on December 7. The AAP got 134 out of 250 councillors while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got 105 and the Congress nine seats

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s mayoral candidate Shelly Oberoi to withdraw her petition demanding timely election of Mayor and deputy mayor in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) after noting that the election for the posts is now scheduled to be held on February 6.

Shelly Oberoi had approached the top court on January 25 seeking the completion of the elections in a time-bound manner after the elections for mayor and deputy mayor was stalled a day ago for the second time in three weeks. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

“We take note of the fact that the election to the posts is slated to be held on February 6. The purpose of the petition has been fulfilled to that extent. The petition is allowed to be withdrawn to avail of other remedies in law,” the bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud stated in its order.

Oberoi had approached the top court on January 25 seeking the completion of the elections in a time-bound manner after the elections for mayor and deputy mayor was stalled a day ago for the second time in three weeks.

When the plea was taken up on Friday, the bench observed that the objective of the petition was served with the elections to be held on February 6.

Senior counsel Abhishek Singhvi, who appeared for Oberoi, however pointed out that apart from the conduct of the elections, the AAP leader also wanted a direction that the 10 nominated members in the House -- known as aldermen—should be restrained from casting their votes.

The bench, however, retorted: “But that was not what the petition was about. Your whole case was that the election is not taking place. You will have your remedies in law if you have the complaint of aldermen being allowed to vote.”

To this, Singhvi said that voting by aldermen can vitiate the entire election process. But the bench said: “You will have your remedies in law if you have the complaint of aldermen being allowed to vote. You can always challenge that in appropriate proceedings. If we are going to adjudge this, we will have to stay the election, which you also do not want.”

At this point, Singhvi agreed to withdraw the petition with the liberty to institute suitable proceedings in future.

The results of the MCD elections were announced on December 7. The AAP got 134 out of 250 councillors while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got 105 and the Congress nine seats.

The first meeting of the newly constituted MCD descended into chaos on January 6. Councillors fought pitched battles on the floor of the House, exchanging blows, climbing on tables to shout slogans, jostling with each other, and even attempting to hurl furniture into the melee.

On January 24, the election was stalled yet again after a ruckus broke out in the MCD minutes after the nominated members (aldermen) and councillors were sworn in and the mayoral poll was going to start. The AAP and the BJP blamed each other for the ruckus.

The votes are cast through a secret ballot in the mayoral polls. The electoral college for the election of mayor includes 250 elected councillors, seven members of the Lok Sabha, three members of the Rajya Sabha, and 1/5th of the members of the Delhi Assembly (14).