Big blow to democracy, says AAP after Supreme Court upholds LG's right to appoint MCD aldermen

Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh said the Supreme Court`s decision gives LG the right to “bypass” the elected government. File pic

Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh on Monday said the party "respectfully disagrees" with the Supreme Court on the latter's decision to uphold the Delhi Lieutenant Governor's (LG) right to appoint the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) aldermen and termed it a "big blow" to India's democracy.

He said the apex court's decision gives LG the right to "bypass" the elected government.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit slammed AAP and said the party should have read the laws before sending the names of the 10 aldermen.

The Supreme Court passed its verdict on the matter on Monday, August 5.

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala rejected the Delhi government's plea that LG is "bound to act on the aid and advice of council of ministers" in nominating 10 aldermen to MCD.

Reacting to the court order, Singh said in a statement, "This is a big blow to India's democracy. By bypassing the elected government, you are going to give all the powers to the lieutenant governor, so that he can run Delhi. This is not good for democracy and the Constitution of India. We respectfully disagree with the decision of the Supreme Court."

The Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) further stated that the court's decision is "unfortunate" and "against the spirit of democracy".

"The court's decision was completely different from the comments made by the chief justice and other judges during the hearing of this case. In other states, the governor approves the names of nominated councilors, but it is done on the aid and advice of the elected government," Singh said.

Meanwhile, Dikshit slammed AAP and said that the Supreme Court had looked at the law. He also said AAP always had a fight with LG and they should have read the laws before sending the names of the 10 aldermen.

"SC looked at the law and it was made clear that the right to appoint the aldermen is with LG. You [AAP] have always fought with LG, you read the law only after sending the names of the aldermen. It is evident that you are playing games with the legal system," Dikshit said.

He also added that AAP has received a slap from the Supreme Court after this judgment.

"The Supreme Court has slapped AAP with this judgement. I wonder if they have lied on this, how many times they would have lied. Every time they lie, they go to court, and their words are proven to be a lie. Sadly, the party has emerged out of a movement, and in my opinion, has been a misfortune for Delhi and the country," he added.

Dikshit also said that Singh should have used some common sense and read the law first.

"Sanjay Singh should have used some common sense, read the law first. You should have read it earlier, these people have told so many lies that they have forgotten the difference between truth and lies," the Congress leader said.

The apex court pronounced its verdict on the Delhi government's plea after reserving it for nearly 15 months.

MCD has 250 elected and 10 nominated members.

In December 2022, AAP defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the MCD elections and ended the saffron party's 15-year rule. AAP won 134 seats, BJP 104 and the Congress nine.

A petition by the Delhi government had sought the quashing of the order dated January 3 and 4, 2023, whereby LG had nominated 10 persons as nominated members of the MCD.

LG has "illegally" appointed 10 nominated members to MCD on his own initiative and not on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, the plea had stated.

(With PTI and ANI inputs)