The Law Is Clear: Nominated Members Cannot Vote In Municipalities
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2023-02-19 03:23:22
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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
In a huge victory for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Supreme Court confirmed that nominated members of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) are not eligible to vote in the selection of the mayor or any other election in the MCD and ordered the Lieutenant Governor's office to notify within 24 hours a schedule for election the new chairman of the body. It also ruled after the mayor's election, the pro tem speaker will have no role and the newly-elected mayor will preside over the election of the deputy mayor and six members to the standing committee. The Supreme Court ruled that Article 243R of the Constitution does not give any voting rights to the nominated members.
It is surprising and disconcerting that despite Article 243R clearly and unambiguously stating that members nominated to any civic body are not entitled to vote, the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi and the BJP tried to get them to vote leading to the MCD mayoral polls being deferred three times due to unruly scenes in the meetings. It is more than two month after the elections in which AAP won 134 seats and the BJP 112 that the MCD remains headless. This also means that no constructive work has been done by the body in these two months due to the unnecessary political slugfest.
Article 243R(2)(a)(i) provides for nomination of persons with special knowledge or experience of municipal affairs if the legislature of the state allows so by law. This provision has been misused by all parties to nominate politicians instead of experts. Then the proviso to Article 243R clearly says that "Provided that the persons referred to in paragraph (i) shall not have the right to vote in the meetings of the Municipality". Either the LG's legal advisors were not doing their jobs properly or it was a ploy to let the BJP win on the strength of the votes of the nominated members or delay the mayoral election in a bid to let the BJP acquire majority through unfair means. But the Supreme Court has gone by the book and the election will now be held on February 22. AAP will have the edge as only elected members will now be allowed to vote.
