Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 – s.3(3)(b)(i) – Interpretation – Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act No. 67 of 1993 – Constitution (Sixty-Ninth Amendment) Act, 1991 – Article 239AA(4), 239AB – Government of National Capital Territory Act, 1991 – ss.41-45 – Nomination of 10 persons with special knowledge in municipal administration to the Delhi Municipal Corporation, by the Lt. Governor u/s.3(3) (b)(i) – Whether to be on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers or the Lt. Governor is to act as per his discretion: Held: s.3(3)(b)(i) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act is a Parliamentary enactment vesting the power of nomination of persons with special knowledge in municipal administration with the Lt. Governor – The said power is to be exercised as a statutory duty of the Lt. Governor and not as the executive power of the Government of NCTD – The context in which the power is located confirms that the Lt. Governor is intended to act as per the mandate of the statute and not to be guided by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers – Notifications issued by the Lt. Governor u/s.3(3)(b)(i) nominating ten members to the Corporation are not in violation of Article 239AA r/w s.41 of the GNCTD Act. [Paras 39, 38, 40]
Constitution of India – Articles 163, 239AA(4) – Discretionary power under – Distinction – Plea that the position of the Lt. Governor is akin to that of a Governor in a State u/Article 163: Held: Rejected – There is a clear distinction between the discretionary power of the Governor u/Article 163 and that of the Lt. Governor u/Article 239AA(4) – While Article 163 requires Governor of a State to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, ‘except in so far as he is by or under this Constitution required to exercise his functions or any of them in his discretion’, the exception in so far as the Lt. Governor, under Article 239AA(4) is concerned, he will act in his discretion, ‘in so far as he is required by or under any law’ – Article 239AA takes into account the unique position of NCTD and therefore adopts the mandate of ‘law’ as a distinct feature for exercise of discretion. [Para 21]
Constitution of India – Article 239AA(3)(a),(b),(c), 239AA(4) – Legislative, Executive, Statutory relations between the Union and National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCTD) – Reiterated. Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 – Power, functions and duties of the Lt. Governor vis-à-vis Government of NCTD – Competing power structure – Discussed.
Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 – s.3(3)(b)(i) – ‘ten persons to be nominated by the Administrator’ – Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act No. 67 of 1993 – Government of National Capital Territory Act, 1991 – Plea that the word ‘administrator’ was used in many pre-1991 legislations which relate to subjects now falling within the purview of the Legislative Assembly of NCTD and thus, vesting of power in the name of Administrator/Lt. Governor in s.3(3)(b)(i) continued by default or ‘semantic lottery’:
Held: Rejected – Submission is oblivious of the 1993 amendment to the Act – The (Amendment) Act gave effect to a scheme by which powers, duties, and responsibilities were allocated to the authorities, depending on the functions they performed under the Act, including comprehensive amendments to s.3(3)(b)(i) of the Act – The power to nominate was brought into the Statute for the first time with the introduction of the 1993 amendment to the DMC Act – The word ‘Administrator’ is not a relic of the past- a pre-1991 legislation when there was no Legislative Assembly for Delhi, as s.3(3)(b)(i) was introduced only in 1993 to give effect to the two constitutional amendments – Under the statutory regime, the entrustment of the powers is intended to be exercised by Lt. Governor as a statutory duty. [Paras 29, 37]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Divya Pandey. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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