Delhi Mayor Polls Postponed, Supreme Court Says Nominated Members Shouldn’t Vote

The Supreme Court on Monday heard Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Shelly Oberoi’s plea challenging the Delhi Lieutenant-Governor VK Saxena’s decision to permit the nominated members to vote in the elections for mayor and deputy mayor in Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

Giving a big statement on Delhi LG’s decision, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud observed that the constitutional provision clearly states that nominated members cannot vote.

“Nominated members should not vote and that is very well settled.”, CJI Chandrachud told Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain who was representing the Delhi Lieutenant General. Jain, along with Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, however said the issue was arguable.

Due to a lack of time, SC decided to adjourn the hearing to Friday (February 17). ASG Jain also agreed to postpone the elections scheduled on February 16 to a date after February 17.

According to a Live Law report, Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the petitioner, said that Article 243R of the Constitution makes it very clear.

February 16 would have been the fourth time, a meeting of the MCD House would have been convened, since December’s civic polls. The last three meetings were adjourned amid ruckus and commotion over the decision to give voting rights to the aldermen.

The adjournment of three such meetings led to a war of words between the AAP and the BJP in Delhi. Both parties protested outside each other’s respective offices in the national capital.

The AAP alleged a “planned conspiracy” by the BJP to stall the process and said the mayoral poll could not be held as the BJP was “strangulating democracy and the Constitution of India”. BJP on the other hand, accused the Arvind Kejriwal-led party of making excuses to stall the process and blamed it for the stalemate.

After the MCD polls in December, the House first convened on January 6 but was adjourned following acrimonious exchanges between BJP and AAP members. The second meeting on January 24 was briefly adjourned after the oath-taking ceremony before being adjourned till the next date by the protem presiding officer.

On February 6, the House was adjourned for the third time without electing a mayor following a ruckus over the decision to allow aldermen to vote in the mayoral poll.

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