SC: Will only look at MCD panel row

The Supreme Court on Friday declined to entertain a plea by former Delhi mayor Shelly Oberoi to allow the Delhi Assembly to address urgent issues related to bio-fill sites and waste management in the absence of a functioning standing committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), emphasising that it cannot "micromanage" its affairs.

- Utkarsh Anand

Stating that the court's focus would only be on Oberoi's petition challenging the election of the sixth member of MCD's standing committee, a bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra made it clear that the scope of the case is confined to the invocation of Section 487 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act by lieutenant governor VK Saxena which facilitated the contentious election.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Oberoi, urged the bench to permit the assembly to address pressing municipal concerns in the interim. "Waste management and awarding of contracts for bio-fill sites are urgent issues. I am not saying I will decide, but while the standing committee is not there, let the assembly take a call. It's in everyone's interest," Singhvi said.