(1.) For our convenience, we are taking facts from Special Civil Application No. 5949 of 1995, which in nutshell, are that, the petitioner was elected as Councillor of the General Body of the respondent no. 2-Khambhat Municipality, the Municipality had been constituted under the provisions of the Gujarat Municipalities Act, 1963 ["the Act" in short], the State Government under the Act is the competent authority to supervise the functions of the respondent no. 2 and the Director of Municipalities is the officer entrusted with the duties for supervision, and the State Government, acting through Director of Municipalities, performs its functions under the Act.
(2.) The petitioner was elected as Councillor in the General Body of the respondent no.2 w.e.f. 5.11.1989. It is the claim of the petitioner that being an elected member, he was representing the common interest of the public which had elected him.
(3.) According to the petitioner, Panchayats and Municipalities are creating third tier in the administration and are virtually local self-administration which would also be clear from Part-IXA and Articles 243P to 243ZG of the Constitution of India.