HC junks plea against appointment of CS as Election Commissioner of MCDs
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Monday dismissed a petition by a former BJP MLA challenging the appointment of Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Dev as Election Commissioner of Municipal Corporations of Delhi from April 21.
The high court said there was no merit in the petition as the date when Dev shall take over as Election Commissioner, he would cease to be a government servant as his request for voluntary retirement with effect from April 20 has been accepted by the Central government.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Navin Chawla dismissed the petition filed by former BJP MLA Nand Kishore Garg which alleged that the appointment was illegal and improper, saying "there is no factual basis laid down in the petition that upon assuming the office of Election Commissioner, Dev will not function independently".
The bench said merely because the notification appointing Dev as the Election Commissioner was issued while he was still in service as Delhi Chief Secretary, is neither here nor there since the appointment would be with effect from April 21, 2022, by then he would have retired from the Government
of India.
The high court had earlier issued notice to the Delhi government and the three MCDs—East, North, and South, on the petition seeking direction to the state to immediately withdraw its November 25, 2021 notification.
By its notification, the Delhi government has allegedly improperly earmarked the appointment of serving chief secretary of Government of NCT of Delhi as Election Commissioner of MCDs with effect from April 21, 2022, Garg had claimed in his plea.
The petitioner, represented through advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi, claimed that the appointment was made in utter violation of the settled principles of law which mandates that important government post like election commissioner must be offered to a neutral and apolitical person and must not be the party to the several political as well as administrative decision of a particular government as it can be capable of affecting the free and fair election process in the MCDs.
