NEW DELHI, Feb 25: The Delhi High Court on Saturday stayed the election of the members of the standing committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi a day after councillors fought in the house.
Mayor Shelly Oberoi had on Friday declared one vote invalid, which sparked a protest by BJP councillors that eventually descended into chaos with councillors from both the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP punching, kicking, slapping and pushing one another.
Ms Oberoi, who belongs to the ruling AAP, had rescheduled the election to Monday but the Delhi High Court said the Mayor announcing a new date to hold the election again without declaring the results of the previous election violated regulations.
“The regulations nowhere reflect that the Delhi Mayor has the authority to declare the election to standing committee members as null and void,” Justice Gaurang Kanth of the Delhi High Court said in the order on two petitions filed by Kamaljeet Sehrawat and Shikha Roy.
The high court then issued notice to the Mayor, the Lieutenant Governor and the MCD and gave two weeks to reply. AAP MLA Atishi said the party was happy with the high court’s decision. “The AAP has won. The BJP wanted to legalise an illegal decision. The BJP only wanted an election result that made them win. The law does not give power to hooligans, but the BJP always fall down to violence,” Atishi said.
At least 242 of the 250 councillors in the AAP-run civic body voted to select six members to the MCD’s all-powerful standing committee which decides all policy matters and budget for each project while the mayor is the figurehead of the civic body.
Seven candidates contested the standing committee elections for six seats. The AAP nominated Aamil Malik, Raminder Kaur, Mohini Jeenwal and Sarika Chaudhary. The BJP fielded Kamaljeet Sehrawat and Pankaj Luthra. Independent councillor Gajender Singh Daral, who joined the BJP, is also a candidate.
The BJP resorted to hooliganism on Friday on apprehension that he Mayor declaring one vote invalid would lead to the AAP winning four seats providing the party a possible majority in the 18-member standing committee. The BJP also alleged the Mayor disregarded counting rules as set by the Election Commission.
(Manas Dasgupta)