Centre defends NDMC stand

New Delhi: Defending its decision to reconstitute New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), the Centre on Monday told the Delhi high court that it can take such a decision if members of a municipal council are not competent to perform or fail to deliver efficient services to the public.
In an affidavit filed before a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice R S Endlaw, the ministry of home affairs claimed it noted irregularities and shortcomings in the functioning of NDMC.
“Under provisions of the NDMC Act, if, in the opinion of the central government, the council is not competent to perform or persistently makes default in performance of its duties or fails to deliver efficient service to the public, the central government may by an order, dissolve the council provided that the council shall be given reasonable opportunity of being heard before its dissolution,” the affidavit says.
The Centre’s response came on a plea against partial dissolution and subsequent reconstitution of the NDMC board by excluding some members, including former Congress MLA Tajdar Babar.
Besides Babar, Ashok Ahuja, I A Siddiqui and Sukha Ram have also moved the court challenging their removal from the NDMC board.
The Centre further told the high court that an inspection of NDMC on June 20, 2014, revealed a loss of Rs 200 crore in net power procurement cost. It maintained that Babar and others are “not entitled to any relief claimed for and the petition is liable to be dismissed”.
In their plea, filed through lawyer K C Mittal, Babar and others have sought quashing of the Centre’s notification of September 5 by which NDMC was dissolved and reconstituted by removing them and two other officers.
Their petition has also said that the Centre’s action is “highly contemptuous, illegal, arbitrary and void ab initio, apart from being motivated and malicious” as it took the decision to remove them without serving them with individual show-cause notices or any other communication.