LG declines appointment of presiding officers for MCD polls citing unusual circumstances

Delhi LG declines to appoint a presiding officer for MCD mayoral polls due to the absence of inputs from jailed Chief Minister. The LG deems it necessary for the chief minister's advice in selecting from the shortlist of councillors to ensure impartiality. The polls have been postponed, and the incumbent mayor and deputy mayor will continue their roles. The LG emphasizes the need to uphold legal and constitutional norms in the appointment process.

Declining to appoint a presiding officer for the conduct of MCD mayoral polls, Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena on Thursday said these are ''peculiar'' circumstances where the chief minister is under judicial custody as an undertrial prisoner and cannot discharge his ''constitutionally obligated functions''.

Saxena made the observations in a note to the chief secretary over the issue of the appointment of a presiding officer for the mayoral polls.

Elections to the posts of mayor and deputy mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) that were slated for April 26 were postponed on Thursday.

The civic body postponed the mayoral polls after the Raj Niwas issued a letter on behalf of Saxena, stating that the appointment of a presiding officer could not be made in the absence of inputs from the chief minister, who is lodged in the Tihar jail in connection with a money laundering-linked excise policy case.

The incumbent mayor and deputy mayor will continue to hold their positions till the time the elections can be held in terms of legal provisions.

''These are peculiar and unprecedented circumstances where the serving Chief Minister is under judicial custody as an under trial prisoner involving a corruption case and therefore cannot discharge his constitutionally obligated functions,'' Saxena said.

Under Section 45 I(4)(viii) of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Act, 1991, the proposal pertaining to ''matters relating to Local Self Governing Institutions and other matters connected therewith'' for exercising the powers of the government, ''shall be submitted to the Lieutenant Governor for his opinion through the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary, before issuing any orders thereon'', the LG noted.

There is a sanctity to the process of conduct of elections and the presiding officer has a crucial role to play to ensure free and fair elections, he said.

''It is a requirement of law that before exercising this power under section 77(a) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, the matter should be placed before me through the Hon'ble Chief Minister and Chief Secretary only... clearly stipulating that the views, only of the Chief Minister, are required on file before arriving at a decision,'' he said.

The chief secretary had sent the proposal for appointing a presiding officer to the chief minister which was returned by his office with the observations on April 22.

The observations said, ''As the Hon'ble Chief Minister is presently under JC (judicial custody), the CMO is not in a position to either communicate or put up the file before him for his direction/ instructions.'' According to LG's note, a shortlist of names is submitted to him, following the recommendations of the chief minister, for arriving at a decision.

The names of all the councillors, barring those who are the contesting candidates, have been submitted without any suggested list from the chief minister to pick from and who are to be nominated as the presiding officer, the LG said.

''This requirement of a recommendation from the chief minister, obviously cannot be fulfilled owing to the fact that he cannot do so, being under judicial custody,'' he said.

''Needless to say, unlike an administrative decision, the appointment of a presiding officer from amongst the councillors, who in turn, will preside over an essentially political exercise, in an impartial manner, should be based on the advice of the political executive as stipulated under extant law mentioned above. Given the current circumstances, this is out of the realm of possibility and any deviation in the process of obtaining such advice would only be questionable,'' he said.

It also stated that after thoughtful consideration of the matter and for upholding the sanctity of law and Constitution, ''there is no scintilla of doubt that taking a decision regarding the appointment of the presiding officer in the circumstances, when the inputs of the chief minister are not available coupled with the factum that the minister is making wild and baseless allegations, would be grossly inappropriate both in terms of law and propriety''.

Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj had written to the LG on Tuesday requesting him to return a file that he claimed was sent to Saxena for nominating the presiding officer without passing it through him.

Last month, Saxena had said at an event, ''I can assure the people of Delhi that the government will not be run from jail.'' His remarks came in the aftermath of the AAP leaders saying that Kejriwal will continue to run the government from jail.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)