The power of the NDMC to grant facilities to non-official members is traceable to specific sections of the NDMC Act, and the court emphasized the limited power of judicial review in cases involving financial implications.

S. MURALIDHAR, J.

.1. This petition, filed as a Public Interest Litigation (“PIL”), is by a former employee of the New Delhi Municipal Council (“NDMC”) and seeks a mandamus to the NDMC to “withdraw the facilities being provided to the non-official members” and for a declaration of “all the facilities currently being enjoyed by the non- official members of NDMC as illegal.”

.Preliminary objection

2. A preliminary objection to the maintainability of the PIL has been raised by Mr.Vikas Singh, learned Additional Solicitor General (ASG) on behalf of the Union of India. According to him, the petition is by a former employee of the NDMC who may be disgruntled and therefore this raises doubts about his bonafides. He accordingly prays for in limine dismissal of the PIL. In support of this contention Mr.Singh referred to the decisions of the Supreme Court in Guruvayoor Devaswom Managing Committee v. C.K. Rajan (2003) 7 SCC 546 and Common Cause v. Union of India (2008) 5 SCC 511. However, Mr.Parag Tripathi, learned ASG appearing for the NDMC did not raise any such objection to the maintainability of this petition. He went so far as to say that any concerned citizen had a right to know whether the monies spent by a statutory authority like the NDMC were within the scope of its statutory powers and had been deployed for achieving the objects of the concerned statute.

.3. This petition concerns the provision of facilities to non-official members of the NDMC, which is a municipal body whose functioning is governed by a statute of Parliament. It seeks accountability for the expenditure incurred by the NDMC for such purpose. The expenditure incurred by a statutory authority of monies entrusted to it, which is contributed to by the public at large, is certainly expected to be in conformity with and for achieving the objects of the statute. A demand for transparency and accountability in the functioning of a statutory body like the NDMC cannot be termed as “frivolous” or “vexatious” or as serving some “personal interest”. The present PIL therefore does not fall within the “prohibited” illustrative categories of cases noted in the decisions cited by Mr.Vikas Singh. The issue raised in this PIL is of substantial public importance. The fact that the petitioner happens to be a former employee of the NDMC cannot by itself disentitle him from agitating such an issue. The preliminary objection to the maintainability of this petition as a PIL is accordingly overruled.

.Composition of the NDMC

.4. Before embarking on the discussion of the issues raised in this PIL, it may be useful to have an overview of the statutory provisions governing the functioning of the NDMC. The NDMC is constituted under Section 3 of the New Delhi Municipal Act 1994 (“NDMC Act”). The NDMC is a unique body which has control over the relatively small area of 45 sq. kms of the

.capital city New Delhi. The monuments housing the key organs of the State -the Parliament, the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Offices of the Central Government and the Supreme Court of India are located in this territory. This perhaps was a reason why it was decided that the area within the jurisdiction of the NDMC would be accorded a separate status and that the constitution and functions of the NDMC would be governed by a separate Act of Parliament. It was decided to constitute a separate municipal council, the members of which are not elected but nominated by the Central Government in consultation with Chief Minister of the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD). Section 2(1) of the NDMC Act defines the “Administrator” to be the Administrator of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, who is designated as the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi by virtue of Article 239AA of the Constitution of India. It is the Central Government which appoints the Lieutenant Governor. The control of the NDMC is therefore with the central government and not the GNCTD.

.5. Section 4 of the NDMC Act, which