Mayor urges SC to allow MCD House assume role of Standing Committee  

Delhi Mayor moves Supreme Court to allow Municipal Corporation of Delhi House to assume function of Standing Committee.

Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi has moved the Supreme Court seeking directions that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) House be allowed to assume the function of the civic body Standing Committee, the formation of which has been pending for a year now.

The constitution of the panel has been pending since the mayoral poll last February as the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP fought for control over the committee, the MCD’s main decision-making arm that has executive powers to grant approval to projects worth over ₹5 crore.

Six members of the panel, three each from both parties, were elected by the MCD House in February last year. The rest 12 are required to be elected by 12 ward committees from as many zones in the city.

Their election could not be held as AAP has challenged in the Supreme Court the voting rights to nominated members of the ward committees.

The Mayor’s plea has come almost a fortnight after Ms. Oberoi during a special session of the MCD proposed vesting the powers of the Standing Committee in the civic body House amid a ruckus with the BJP members opposing the move, which they alleged was “illegal and unconstitutional”.

The plea, in which the Lieutenant Governor’s (LG) Office is the respondent, sought a directions for the smooth functioning of the civic body.