PUNJAB NATTHUJI RAKESH Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE order passed by the Collector, Nagpur on 5 -7 -1989 in Revenue Case No. 3/1988 -1989 of Mowad Municipal Council, Mowad (Annex. F) has been challenged in this writ petition.

(2.) FACTS giving rise to this litigation may be briefly stated as follows: There is a Municipal Council at Mowad in Nagpur District. The elections to this Municipal Council were held sometimes in April 1985. According to respondent No. 3 prior to these elections an Aghadi styled as a Janata Aghadi was constituted and 20 candidates were sponsored by this Janata Aghadi to contest all the 20 wards. They had also issued a manifesto. They went before the electorate with this manifesto. Thirteen persons belonging to the Janata Aghadi were returned. The present petitioners 1 to 3 and the respondent No. 3 were among them. The respondent No. 3 was the leader of this Janata Aghadi. The elected members took over office after the elections. The respondent No. 3 was elected as a President of the Municipal Council. The working went on quite smoothly upto 1988. Thereafter the present petitioners started remaining absent and at times they avoided or refrained from voting against the directions of the Janata Aghadi, with the result that no candidate of the Janata Aghadi could be elected either to the Standing Committee or to other bodies of the Municipal Council. Not satisfied with this, a special meeting was requisitioned under section 55 -A of the Maharashtra Municipalities Act to pass a vote of no -confidence against the respondent No. 3. It is his case that all the three petitioners joined hands with the opposition. However, this resolution failed and he is still in office.

(3.) THE respondent No. 3, therefore, filed a complaint before the Collector under section 3 of the Maharashtra Local Authority Members' Disqualification Act, 1987. The main grievances made by him in this application were that because of the hostile attitude of the three petitioners the official candidates had to withdraw from the contest. It is also his contention that by doing these acts they voluntarily gave up the membership of Janata Aghadi, which sponsored them and got them elected. It is also contended that they avoided or abstained from voting in the meeting of the Municipal Council contrary to the directions issued by the Aghadi. The conduct of the petitioners leads to disqualification. Hence he requested the Collector to pass an order disqualifying them.