Amid confusion over whether the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD)’s ward committee polls would take place on time on Wednesday after Mayor Shelly Oberoi refused to appoint presiding officers, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena late on Tuesday night used his “special powers” under the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, and in the “larger public interest”, asked the Municipal commissioner to appoint presiding officers to conduct the polls. Saxena issued an order appointing all MCD Zone Deputy Commissioners to act as presiding officers and directing for “elections be conducted as per the schedule”.

This came soon after the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a gazette notification expanding the powers of the Delhi  Lt Governor, giving him the authority to constitute any board, commission, authority, or statutory body, which lay exclusively under the President's jurisdiction earlier. The notification was issued under clause (1) of article 239 of the Constitution and section 45D of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 (1 of 1992).

The Lt Governor said in a letter that “after waiting for Mayor” to take a decision till 8:00 pm on Tuesday, the MCD Commissioner approached him seeking his directions to appoint.

After that, he decided to use his constitutional and statutory powers and nominate the presiding officers. Based on his orders, the MCD commissioner passed an order notifying deputy commissioners as the presiding officers for the polls. “The President hereby directs that the Lieutenant Governor of the National Capital Territory of Delhi shall, subject to the control of the President and until further orders, exercise the powers of the President under clause (a) of section 45D of the said Act for constitution of any authority, board, commission or any statutory body by whatever name it may be called, or for appointment of any Government officer or ex officio member to such authority, board, commission or any statutory body,” the notification said.

Ideally, the appointment of the presiding officer should be done at least one day prior to the elections.

Following the LG's directions, the MCD commissioner passed an order notifying deputy commissioners as the presiding officers for the polls. The commissioner directed the Municipal Secretary to take necessary steps to hold the elections as per the schedule.

“The Mayor has...not nominated the Presiding Officers for the said election even while the elections are scheduled tomorrow i.e. 04/09/2024. Now, therefore in larger public interest and in order to preserve the democratic spirit of the Municipal Body and in exercise of power conferred under Section 487 of DMC Act, 1957... Lt Governor has directed that the aforesaid elections be conducted as per the schedule notified by the Commissioner, MCD,” the order by the commissioner read.It added the deputy commissioner of the zones concerned will perform the functions and duties of the presiding officer. The entire process of elections will be recorded to ensure a smooth, fair and transparent process, it noted. The long-pending polls for the ward committees and standing committee has affected several civic services and financial matters in the corporation. The Supreme Court’s August 5 verdict, which held that the Centre-appointed Lieutenant Governor could solely nominate the 10 aldermen without consulting the Delhi government, had initially cleared the path for the elections. The election announcement was made on August 28. Nominations were to be filed by August 30. In her letter to Kumar, Oberoi had argued that the election schedule was designed in a way that deprived many eligible councillors of their legal right to file nominations, while others were entirely excluded from participating in the process. “Given that the nomination period began on a Friday, just one clear day after the election announcement, and was set to close that evening, their request was not at all unreasonable,” she wrote.

According to the DMC Act, the Municipal Secretary notifies the appointment of the presiding officers after the mayor sends the file carrying their names. According to the Act, the mayor is the sole authority to make the appointments for the post. The file is required to be sent to the Municipal Secretary for the purpose of notifying the appointment.