Shelly Oberoi & Anr. vs Office of Lieutenant Governor of Delhi & Ors.
Background
Elections to the 250-member Municipal Corporation of Delhi were held on 4 December 2022, but more than two months later the Mayor had still not been elected. Shelly Oberoi, a prospective candidate for Mayor, approached the Supreme Court directly under Article 32. The dispute had narrowed to two questions: whether the ten "aldermen" nominated by the Administrator (Lieutenant Governor) for their special knowledge of municipal administration could vote at the first meeting where the Mayor is elected, and whether the Mayor must be elected first before the Deputy Mayor and Standing Committee members, or whether all elections could happen simultaneously. The Lt Governor and the Corporation argued that the voting bar on nominated members applied only to regular business meetings, not to the first post-election meeting.
Decision Breakdown
The Court allowed the petition and rejected the Lt Governor's and Corporation's arguments. Article 243R(2) of the Constitution, introduced by the 74th Amendment, expressly says that persons brought into a municipality for their special knowledge "shall not have the right to vote in the meetings of the Municipality", and Section 3(3)(b)(i) of the DMC Act repeats that restriction. The Court held that "meetings" means all meetings, including the very first meeting after a general election at which Section 35 requires the Mayor and Deputy Mayor to be elected. On the second question, Regulations 7 and 8 of the 1958 Procedure Regulations make it clear that once the Mayor is elected he or she presides over the rest of the meeting, including the Deputy Mayor's election, so the Mayor must be elected first, consistent with the three-judge decision in Ramesh Mehta v. Sanwal Chand Singh. The Court directed that notice for the first meeting be issued within 24 hours, that the Mayor be elected first without nominated members voting, and that the elected Mayor then preside over the Deputy Mayor and Standing Committee elections with the same voting bar continuing.
Lesson Learnt
Nominated, unelected members of a municipal body cannot vote in any of its meetings, including the crucial first meeting that chooses the Mayor, because the Constitution itself reserves that power for directly elected representatives. A clear constitutional text cannot be narrowed by reading in exceptions that are not there.