'L-G didn't nominate Satya Sharma as presiding officer out of thin air', says L-G office

New Delhi, Jan 7 (IANS) Amid the ongoing tussle between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, V.K. Saxena, over the nomination of Aldermen and presiding officer to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the L-G office said on Saturday that the names of Satya Sharma and five other councillors, were sent by the MCD/AAP government to the L-G for consideration as the protem (interim) presiding officer for a meeting to elect the Mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

The other names were Mukesh Goel, Preeti, Shakeela Begum, Hemchand Goel and Neema Bhagat.

Despite the L-G having legal discretion to select any councillor who is not contesting for the post of Mayor or Deputy Mayor, he selected from among the six names sent to him through Deputy Chief Minister (Manish Sisodia) and Chief Minister (Arvind Kejriwal) on the basis of universally accepted criteria for elimination/selection, the L-G office said in a statement.

The statement came after Arvind Kejriwal on Friday accused Saxena of "blatant misuse of power" in appointing a presiding officer and an Alderman to the MCD.

"Contrary to the claims being made by CM Arvind Kejriwal and his colleagues in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Delhi L-G V.K. Saxena scrupulously adhered to the Constitutional provisions, acts and statutes while nominating the interim (protem) presiding officer for the newly-elected MCD. Facts on file not only bely the claims made by CM Kejriwal in his tweets, they also underline that in his quest to manage a positive perception for himself and his party, he mislead people", LG house in a statement.

Section 77(a) of the MCD Act, dealing with appointment of 'Presiding Officer at meeting for the election of Mayor', stipulates that "at a meeting for the election of a Mayor, the Administrator shall nominate a Councillor who is not a candidate for such election to preside over the meeting", it said.

That the "Administrator" is the L-G is unequivocally provided for vide Section 2(1) of the MCD Act, 1957. Section 2(1) of the DMC Act, 1957, reads as follows: "Administratora means the Lt. Governor of the National Capital Territory of Delhi", read the statement.

"There is no other law, statute or provision that prescribes or proscribes anything else apart from the above-mentioned legally valid position. Despite this, it is not that the L-G nominated Satya Sharma as the presiding officer out of thin air," the statement read.

The L-G house said that Mukesh Goel, who had been recommended by the CM/Deputy CM, was eliminated because of the charges of him seeking Rs 1 crore from an MCD engineer, while Preeti was eliminated because of criminal cases pending against her.

Shakeela Begum and Hemchand Goel were eliminated on the criteria of educational qualification -- Begum is fifth pass, Goel is 10th pass.

"From among Neema Bhagat (M.A.) and Satya Sharma (B.A.), both of whom has 15 years of experience as councillors, the latter (Satya Sharma) was finally selected because of her having the experience of serving as a Mayor - experience that made her the best suited to conduct the proceedings of the newly-constituted house in its maiden session," the statement said.

"The L-G, who is the 'Administrator', has nominated 10 persons in pursuance of the powers vested upon him vide Section 3(3)(b)(i) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957," it added.