Presiding officer was not appointed out of thin air: L-G office

Lieutenant-Governor nominated presiding officer for MCD meeting through a process of elimination, say Raj Niwas officials

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (right) with L-G Vinai Kumar Saxena. | Photo Credit: File photo

 

Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena nominated BJP councillor Satya Sharma as the presiding officer for the maiden meeting of the newly constituted House of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) through a process of elimination from a list of six names sent by the Delhi government, officials at the Raj Niwas said on Saturday. 

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in a letter to the L-G on Friday, had alleged that the latter appointed the presiding officer and 10 nominated persons (aldermen) to the MCD without consulting the Delhi government. 

“Contrary to the claims made by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his colleagues in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Mr. Saxena scrupulously adhered to the Constitutional provisions, Acts and Statutes, while nominating the interim (Pro tem) presiding officer for the newly elected MCD,” read a statement issued by the L-G’s office.

Responding to the statement, Mr. Kejriwal shot off another letter to Mr. Saxena on Saturday, saying the L-G was “bound by the aid and advice” of the Council of Ministers in connection with this subject. He added that “for the past 30 years, the powers under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act were always exercised by the Council of Ministers”. 

Noting that Section 21(3) of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act defines “government” as the L-G, Mr. Kejriwal asked Mr. Saxena to clarify whether he would run the Delhi government by “bypassing” the elected government on “all transferred subjects”. 

“Sir, this is an extremely important subject and the people of Delhi at large would like to know what is your understanding on this subject? The statement issued from your office is silent on how you directly constituted Haj Committee bypassing the elected govt? Kindly clarify, Sir,” wrote Mr. Kejriwal. 

Referring to the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act 1957, the Raj Niwas officials said it clearly states that the presiding officer is to be nominated by the administrator, which means the L-G, and that Ms. Sharma was not “appointed out of thin air”. 

According to Section 77 (a) of the Act, the administrator (L-G) shall nominate a councillor – who is not a candidate for the Mayor or Deputy Mayor elections – as the presiding officer for the meeting.

They added that apart from Ms. Sharma, the five names included AAP councillor Mukesh Goel, whose name was eliminated due to “charges against him of seeking ₹1 crore from an MCD engineer”. 

The officials added that the L-G’s decision to nominate 10 persons to the civic body was in accordance with the provisions in the DMC Act. 

Under Section 3 of the Act, 10 persons – who are not younger than 25 years of age and have special knowledge in municipal administration – are to be nominated by the L-G. 

“The above is the factual, legal and constitutional provision and any attempt to deviate from it, or to create confusion regarding it by the Aam Aadmi Party is nothing but its characteristic politics of deceit, blatant lies and deliberate attempts at misleading,” an official said.