SHELLY OBEROI & ANR. versus OFFICE OF LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF DELHI & ORS.

Citation: [2023] 5 S.C.R. 582 · Decided: 17-02-2023 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: D.Y. CHANDRACHUD · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed

Judgment (excerpt)

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SHELLY OBEROI & ANR.
v.
OFFICE OF LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF DELHI & ORS.
(Writ Petition (Civil) No 152 of 2023)
FEBRUARY 17, 2023
[DR. DHANANJAYA Y CHANDRACHUD, CJI,
PAMIDIGHANTAM SRI NARASIMHA AND
J. B. PARDIWALA]
Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957: ss. 3(3)(b)(i), 35(1),
73 – Election of mayor and deputy mayor of Municipal Corporation
of Delhi, if to be held simultaneously – Right of nominated members
of the municipal corporation to vote – Held: At the first meeting of
the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the election shall be held first
for the post of Mayor and upon the election of the Mayor, the Mayor
shall act as the presiding authority for conducting the election of the
Deputy Mayor and the members of the Standing Committee – Members
nominated in terms of s. 3(3)(b)(i) shall not have the right to vote –
Delhi Municipal Corporation (Procedure and Conduct of Business)
Regulations 1958 – Regn 7 – Constitution of India – Art.243R.
Ramesh Mehta v. Sandal Chand Singh (2004) 5 SCC
409 - referred to.
Case Law Reference
(2004) 5 SCC 409
referred to
Para 13
CIVIL
ORIGINAL JURISDICTION: Writ Petition (Civil) No.
152 of 2023.
(UNDER ARTICLE 32 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA)
Dr. A M Singhvi, Sr. Adv., Shadan Farasat, Amit Bhandari, Ms.
Hrishika Jain, Shourya Dasgupta, Ms. Mreganka Kukreja, Aman Naqvi,
Advs. for the Petitioners.
Tushar Mehta, SG, Sanjay Kumar Jain, A.S.G., Mrs. Garima
Prashad, Maninder Singh, Ranjit Kumar, Sr. Advs., Kanu Agrawal,
Padmesh Mishra, Sanjay Kr.Tyagi, Arkaj Kumar, Shreekant Neelappa
Terdal, Nishit Agrawal, Ms. Kanishka Mittal, Ms. Vanya Agrawal, Gaurav
Sharma, Dhawal Mohan, Prateek Bhatia, Prabhas Bajaj, Paranjay
Thripathi, Neeraj, Amit Tiwari, Aman Jha, Surender Gupta, Rishi Tutu,
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Ms. Megha Sharma, Ms. Akanksha Gupta, Shoumendu Mukherji, Advs.
for the Respondents.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
DR. DHANANJAYA Y CHANDRACHUD, CJI
1. The jurisdiction of this Court under Article 32 of the Constitution
has been invoked for seeking diverse reliefs pertaining to the constitution
of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi following the elections which took
place on 4 December 2022. These elections were held to elect 250
Councillors. The first petitioner is a prospective candidate for the post of
Mayor. Though over two months have elapsed since the date of the
election, the election of the Mayor has not be held.
2. Chapter II of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act 19571 deals
with the establishment of Corporations. Section 35(1) provides that a
Corporation shall at its first meeting in each year elect one of its members
to be the Chairperson, who is known as the Mayor, and another member
to be the Deputy Mayor of the Corporation. Section 3 provides for the
establishment of the Municipal Corporation. Sub-section (3) of Section
3 indicates the composition of the Corporation. In terms of the provision,
a Corporation is to be composed of Councillors. Besides the Councillors
who are directly elected through the voters in the ward constituencies,
there are Councillors who are nominated by the Administrator. Yet others
are represented as ex officio representatives. Clause (b) of sub-section
(3) of Section 3 specifies the persons who shall be represented in a
Corporation. Among them are:
“(i)
ten persons, who are not less than 25 years of age and who
have special knowledge or experience in municipal
administration, to be nominated by the Administrator”.
The proviso to Section 3(3)(b)(i), however, lays down that “the
persons nominated under this sub-clause shall not have the right to vote
in the meetings of a Corporation”.
3. Chapter V of the Act deals with procedure and the transaction
of business by a Corporation. Section 72(1) provides that a Corporation
shall ordinarily hold at least one meeting in every month for the transaction
of business. Section 73 provides that the first meeting of a Corporation
after a general election shall be held as early as possible after the
1 “Act”
SHELLY OBEROI v. OFFICE OF LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
OF DELHI
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publication of the results of the election under Section 14 and shall be
convened by the Administrator. Section 74 provides for the notice of
meetings and transaction of business. Section 76(1) stipulates that a
Mayor, or in his absence, the Deputy Mayor shall preside over every
meeting of the Corporation. Section 77 

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