Delhi Mayor Elections: Big Relief for AAP As SC Says Nominated Members Can't Vote

Nominated members of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) cannot vote in the mayoral election, the Supreme Court ruled on Friday, adding election for the mayoral post must precede the selection of the deputy mayor. “The mayor’s election has to happen first, and then he or she will be the presiding authority for the meeting where the deputy mayor is elected,” said Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud.

The Delhi mayor polls, which were previously scheduled for February 16, had to be postponed due to the apex court hearing. The Supreme Court had on Monday observed that nominated members of the MCD cannot vote in mayoral elections after it was stalled thrice due to the AAP-BJP fight.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal welcomed the apex court’s order and called it a “victory of democracy.” “SC order victory of democracy. Many thanks to SC. Delhi will now get a mayor after two and a half months. It has been proved that LG and BJP together are passing illegal and unconstitutional orders in Delhi,” he said in a tweet.

Noting that two months have elapsed in the election for the Delhi mayor after the results of the civic polls were announced on December 7, the court also directed officials to issue a notice convening the corporation’s first meeting and indicating the date of the meeting to be released within 24 hours.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud heard a plea filed by AAP mayoral candidate Shelly Oberoi seeking early holding of the mayoral poll. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain, appearing for the office of Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena, said the February 16 poll would be postponed to a date after February 17.

The CJI took note of arguments made by Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for AAP. Reading the process of elections as laid down in the DMC Act, Singhvi stated, “first, you elect the mayor, and then the mayor chairs all the other meetings.”

“Nominated members can’t vote for the mayor. First, the mayor is elected, then the other members,” the CJI observed. “The mayor has to be elected immediately. It doesn’t do well as national capital if it doesn’t,” he added.

Meanwhile, ASG Sanjay Jain argued that according to the MCD, the aldermen can vote. “Meeting for mayor election is special and aldermen are allowed to vote,” he said. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta also appeared for the LG and noted that all members would participate in the election.

The Supreme Court narrowed down the matter into two issues, first, whether aldermen are allowed to vote at the first meeting where the mayor is elected and second, the order of holding elections, i.e. whether an election to the office of mayor is held first and then for the position of deputy mayor.

The apex court said it was unable to accept the submission on behalf of the municipal corporation. “The Constitution has imposed a restriction in terms of which nominated members do not have the right to vote. The prohibition on nominated members in the exercise of the right to vote applies on the first meeting,” it noted.

‘Nominated members should not vote’: SC

The observation is similar to Chandrachud’s statement on Monday on the bench, which also comprised Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala. “Nominated members cannot go for election. The constitutional provision is very clear,” the CJI told the ASG.

Advocate Shadan Farasat, appearing for Oberoi, told the bench that the petitioner is seeking two directions — nominated members should not be permitted to vote and the elections of the mayor, deputy mayor and standing committee to be held separately.

Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the AAP leader, had pointed out that the MCD House was convened three times but the election of the mayor was not held. “We have several objections including that the pro-tem presiding officer of the MCD is insisting on holding elections for mayor, deputy mayor and members of standing committee all at once. This is contrary to the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act,” he had said. Singhvi had said the other issue is the voting rights of nominated members of the House and it needs to be adjudicated.

What is at the heart of the ruckus inside MCD?

After the December civic polls, three meetings were adjourned amid ruckus between the AAP and BJP over the decision to give voting rights to aldermen (nominated members).

The electoral college for the election of the MCD mayor comprises 250 elected councillors, seven Lok Sabha and three Rajya Sabha MPs from Delhi and 14 MLAs. The Delhi Assembly Speaker nominated 13 AAP MLAs and a BJP member to the civic body.

The AAP won 134 wards and the BJP 104 in the civic body polls. A BJP rebel, who had contested as an independent, rejoined the party after winning from the Mundka ward. The total votes in the mayoral polls are 274. The numbers game favours AAP, which has 150 votes against the BJP’s 113.

However, in the MCD House meeting on February 6, the presiding officer and BJP councillor Satya Sharma decided that the 10 LG-appointed aldermen would vote. If the aldermen are allowed to vote, the committed voting strength of the BJP could go up to 123 from 113.

The AAP has alleged that the BJP is trying to steal its mandate by giving voting rights to the nominated members. The AAP and the BJP indulged in a blame game, with the former accusing the saffron party of resorting to “dishonest tactics”. The BJP hit back, alleging that its “suspicion” that the AAP did not want voting in the MCD House has proved true.

Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena had approved to convene the next session of the MCD House on February 16 for election to the post of mayor.

After a series of disagreements, the MCD House failed to elect a mayor for the third time. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) mayoral candidate, Shelly Oberoi, moved the SC seeking early conduct of the election on February 7. The apex court had on February 8 sought responses of the LG office, pro-tem presiding officer Satya Sharma of the MCD and others on Oberoi’s plea.

Delhi BJP working president Virendra Sachdeva said, “They (AAP) had gone to the Court for a stay (on voting) in which they have succeeded. Our endeavour has always been that Delhi gets its mayor at the earliest,” he said.

Sachdeva, however, said the BJP would accept the Supreme Court’s judgement.

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