Explainer: SC MCD aldermen verdict, nominations, tussle, impact, what next
MCD functionaries said the SC verdict will pave the way for elections for 12 decentralised panels to oversee each administrative zone and the standing committee
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled the Lieutenant Governor (LG) has the power to nominate 10 Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) aldermen without the government’s advice, paving the way for the pending elections to the civic body’s wards and standing committees.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) welcomed the verdict while the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) called it a “big setback” for democracy. The control over the 18-member standing committee, which controls MCD’s purse strings, will now be the next battle between AAP and BJP.
The MCD election was held in December 2022. But the civic body’s deliberative wing has remained incomplete in the absence of key panels over the logjam due to the dispute over the aldermen. The logjam meant that all major projects were stuck.
MCD functionaries said the court verdict will pave the way for elections for wards committee or 12 decentralised panels to oversee each administrative zone in Delhi and subsequently the standing committee.
Origin of the dispute
The last civic polls were held following the unification of three erstwhile corporations in May 2022 for better administration. AAP won the polls securing a simple majority of 134 out of 250 seats. In January 2023, LG VK Saxena nominated 10 aldermen. The AAP moved the Supreme Court over the nominations, saying they were made without consulting the government. It argued such nominations were earlier made following the aid and advice of the government.
The MCD Act says the administrator, or the LG, has the right to nominate the 10 aldermen. The AAP and BJP have been at loggerheads over securing these posts.
Alderman is a titular position with origins in the old municipal governance structure of boroughs and county councils in Britain. Aldermen have no direct voting rights in the House of MCD councillors. Their right to vote in the wards committee could help alter the power balance in other committees under the MCD. The AAP has a majority in the House. But the zonal distribution of BJP and AAP councillors leaves the control over the standing committee an open contest.
Importance of control over the standing committee
All the policy proposals and the budget are presented first to the 18-member panel. Only after its approval, they are sent to the House of councillors. An MCD official said that the panel clears the sanctions of all projects worth above ₹five crore, policy matters with financial implications on the civic body as well as the layout plans of all major projects.
Out of the 18 members, six are elected directly. MCD’s 12 zonal wards committees of the 12 administrative zones elect the rest of the 12 members. After all the 18 members are finalised, one of them is elected as the standing committee chairman through elections. The chairman’s position is important and rivals the powers of the mayor.
Former MCD chief law officer Anil Gupta said the aldermen do not have voting rights in the House meetings as per the 2015 Onika Malhotra high court order. He added aldermen have voting rights in the zonal committees and therefore they may help the political parties to tip the balance.
The AAP alleged that 10 members from the BJP background were nominated and said this was against the people’s verdict in the MCD elections.
Impact of logjam
In the absence of the key panel, a series of projects and policy decisions have remained stuck over the last 20 months. An MCD official pointed out that only the standing committee can clear the layout plans of major infrastructure projects. Over 60 such projects were stuck in the town planning department in the absence of this key panel. “The pending projects include the one for appointing new companies for clearing the landfill sites...new operators need to be hired for bio mining of legacy waste. We are also unable to appoint a new operator for collection of toll tax in the Capital...the contract of the previous operator ended on April 10,” the official said, requesting anonymity.
A second MCD official explained that the commissioner has the power to clear projects up to ₹5 crore. But larger projects need the standing committee’s approval along with layout plan approval for projects like the new Delhi Transport Corporation township in Hari Nagar, hostel towers for Delhi University, IIFT Maidangarhi and another multi-storey tower on DDU Marg.
“We are also undertaking the process for layout plans of three colonies which would serve as a model for regularisation of unauthorised colonies but this will also need the approval of the standing committee,” said the second official.
The AAP-led MCD House of councillors passed a resolution on January 15 saying that approvals for contracts with expenditures greater than ₹5 crore, including cases where approvals are routed through the Standing Committee, be given by the corporation.
In the absence of the key panel, MCD was forced to provide extensions to private operators in multiple cases including the contract to manage garbage in the central zone which covers VIP pockets in New Delhi. The corporation has been unable to hire a a private operator for Delhi’s first pet park in Jangpura and set up the Shahjahnabad Museum and Interpretation Centre near Lahori Gate among other projects
What next?
The Supreme Court verdict will intensify the battle for control over the standing committee. Gupta said that the municipal secretariat will now hold elections for the wards committees, each of which will elect a chairman, deputy chairman, and a standing committee member. “One of the six directly elected standing committee members, Kamaljeet Sehrawat, has resigned after being elected West Delhi member of Parliament. Therefore, a direct election for the vacant post will be held. Together all these 18 members will elect the chairman. The entire process may take 1-1.5 months given that time for nominations has to be provided.”
MCD oversees an area of 1397.3 square kilometers sub-divided into 12 administrative zones. Based on the distribution of councillors, the BJP has an advantage in Shahdara, Shahdara South, Najafgarh, and Keshavpuram zones. AAP has an advantage in five zones.
Political slugfest
AAP Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh said all the rights were being given to LG bypassing the government. “This is not good for democracy and the Constitution. We respectfully disagree with the decision,” he said. “This decision is completely different from the comments of the Chief Justice or other judges during the hearing in this case.”
Singh said that in other states, the governor approves the names of nominated councillors and council members on the recommendation of the government. “Why is it not so in Delhi? Is there no elected government here? This is a decision against the people and the spirit of democracy… After reading the entire decision, we will make a strategy as to what to do next… We will win the elections of the standing committee.”
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said that AAP opposes LG’s decisions. “Delhi cannot be compared to other states. Delhi is a centrally administered area. The Supreme Court decision has exposed them. We are disappointed with Singh’s statement which raises questions on the verdict. Even though they are aware of the jurisdictions in Delhi, AAP misleads people by blaming LG. The decision by LG was according to the Constitution.”