New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed a PIL seeking to declare as unconstitutional the act
by which civic body New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) came into
being.
"The writ petition, being devoid of merit, stands
dismissed without any order as to costs," a bench of Chief
Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna said.
The court's verdict came on the PIL filed by NGO Campaign
For People Participation seeking to declare the New Delhi
Municipal Corporation Act, 1994 as "ultra vires of the
Constitution and further to issue a mandamus directing Centre
to take necessary steps immediately for election of the
Municipality of New Delhi area".
The bench, in its 14-page order, said "on a scanning of
the provisions relating to the composition of Delhi Municipal
Council, it is manifest that it is in accordance with the
constitutional provision which has been substituted to be made
applicable to Delhi.
"It is worth noting that such a power is inherent in the
Constitution itself. If the notification is issued in
pursuance of the constitutional provision, no fault can be
found with the provisions en-grafted in the 1994 Act."
The NGO had said the NDMC did not have elected members
and it was against the Constitution.
Citing constitutional schemes, the NGO had said "these
amendments have come into existence to spread democracy at the
grass root level conferring more responsibility on the people
... in abject contravention of the constitutional provision,
the municipality constituted under the impugned Act does not
provide for the proper structure of the municipality inasmuch
as there are a number of ex-officio members and not elected
representatives."
PTI
First Published: Monday, September 12, 2011, 21:55