Delhi: House panel move to seek info from civic bodies stayed

NEW DELHI: Delhi High Court on Wednesday intervened in the ongoing tussle between Aam Aadmi Party and the three

municipal corporations

. Justice Navin Chawla stayed the move by a newly constituted “Committee on Municipal Corporation in Delhi” by the

legislative assembly

to demand information on the functioning of one of the corporations.


Granting an interim stay the court also sought to know from the assembly secretariat and AAP government if a committee can conduct parallel proceedings to oversee working of the

civic agency

when standing committees under the municipal corporation law conduct the same work.

The court acted on a petition filed by Rajdutt Gehlot, chairman of

South Delhi Municipal Corporation

’s standing committee. In his plea Gehlot argued that the assembly panel is illegal and sought quashing of the constitution of the committee.

“It is submitted that the accounts and finances of the corporation are required to be scrutinised/audited by the authorities constituted under DMC Act, in particular by the standing committee, the same issue cannot be subject to scrutiny by an agency outside the statutory provisions of DMC Act. Such an act on the part of the respondent not only amounts to transgressing and over the limits and powers of the respondent, but also is an act amounting to interference with the functioning of the petitioner as the chairman of the standing committee,” the plea said.

Appearing for the chairman, senior advocate

Sanjay Poddar

highlighted that by a December 4 notice, the assembly committee has asked for information in respect of activities, staff, finances, pending recoveries during the previous 5-10 years of SDMC, without any basis. He questioned the move to conduct “a roving and fishing inquiry with ulterior motives” and urged the high court to quash the panel.

The plea also informed the court that by another notice on December 16, the committee has asked all the commissioners of the civic agency to appear before it. The south corporation said the agenda of the meeting is unknown nor the source of power has been disclosed to call for such a meeting.

The petition said that DMC Act envisages complete autonomy to promote local governance. It said urban local bodies can’t be made subservient to the assembly as these are “vibrant democratic units of self government.”