HC issues notice to Centre, Delhi government over legislators' nominations to municipal corporations

The Delhi High Court sought to know the stand of the Centre, the AAP government and the Assembly on Tuesday on a plea moved by BJP legislator Vijender Gupta seeking quashing of a notification nominating a group of MLAs to the municipal corporations in the national capital.

A bench of justices G S Sistani and Jyoti Singh issued a notice to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Assembly, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi and the lieutenant governor's office, seeking their response to the plea.

The petition contends that 13 MLAs are being nominated as councillors in the corporations.

Gupta, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Rohini, alleged that since the AAP formed the government in the national capital in February 2015, the same legislators of the party were repeatedly nominated as councillors in the municipal corporations in violation of the laid-down norms.

"As per the provisions of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, the speaker is under obligation to nominate the persons rotation-wise, meaning the MLAs who were nominated in the previous years shall not be repeated again and again," Gupta said in his petition mentioned through Ashwini Kumar Dubey.

On July 12, a notification was issued by the Delhi Assembly to nominate 13 AAP MLAs again to the municipal corporations -- North, South and East Delhi municipal corporations. According to Gupta, he filed the petition on Friday.

"During the tenure of the present legislative assembly, not one MLA from the Opposition has been nominated by the speaker. Not only this, the speaker has nominated the same members of the legislative assembly as members of the three municipal corporations," the BJP leader said in his petition.

"This act of the speaker is biased, ultra vires, arbitrary and contrary to Article 14 of the Constitution of India," he alleged in the petition.