The Delhi High Court directed the Union Government on Wednesday to take a decision on issuing a notification for appointment of a presiding officer to head the Appellate Tribunal under Section 253 of the New Delhi Municipal Council Act, 1994.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia directed the Government of India to take a decision as expeditiously as possible, preferably within four weeks.

As per Section 253, the Central Government has to constitute one or more Appellate Tribunals for deciding appeals preferred under section 247 or section 254 of NDMC Act.

The Court was dealing with a public interest litigation filed by one Shivmani Yadav raising the concern of non functioning of the appellate tribunal.

It was her grievance that the tribunal in question is not functioning from November last year in absence of a notification for appointment of the presiding officer by the Central Government.

The counsel representing NDMC referred to a letter written on November 14, 2025, to the Additional Secretary of the Home Affairs department of the Union of India requesting for issuing such a notification.

The Court took the letter on record and disposed of the matter while directing the Union Government to take a decision expeditiously on issuance of the notification.

Title: Shivmani Yadav v. Union of India & Ors

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Del) 213