PRAKASHKUMAR NEMICHAND PARAKH Vs. COLLECTOR OF NASHIK

JUDGEMENT

(1.) WHETHER Subjects Committee of a `c Class Municipal Council can consist of only one member is a short but interesting question which falls for our consideration in this writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

(2.) IGATPURI Municipal Council is a Class `c Municipal Council. In the elections, which were held in December 1991, petitioners Nos. 1 to 14 and respondents Nos. 3 and 18 were elected as members of the Municipal Council. For the year 1991-92, the Standing Committee consisting of ten members and various Subjects Committees consisting of three members each were formed. As the period of the Standing Committee and the Subjects Committees expired, the Collector of Nasik in exercise of powers under section 65 of the Maharashtra Municipalities Act, 1965 (hereinafter referred he as `the Act) convened a special meeting of the Municipal Council on 23rd December, 1992 for the purposes of (i) determining the number of members of the Standing Committee; (ii) determining the Subjects Committee or Committees, if any, to be appointed, and the number of members of each such Committee, and if more than one such Committee are to be appointed, the Subject Committee of which the Vice-President shall be the ex officio Chairman; (iii) holding elections to the Standing Committee and the Subjects Committee or Committees; (iv) for electing the Chairman of the Subjects Committee other than that of which the Vice-President is to be the ex officio Chairman; and (v) for holding elections for the remaining members of the Standing Committee, if necessary. All the thirty Councillors attended the meeting. As regards the number of members of the Standing Committee, it was unanimously agreed that the number of members should be ten. Then came for the consideration the second subject, namely, determining the number of members of each Subjects Committee. Respondent No. 10 moved a resolution that each Subject Committee should consist of only one member. This was seconded by respondent No. 5. Petitioner No. 2 moved an amendment to this resolution that the minimum number of members of each Subjects Committee should be three. The amendment was seconded by petitioner No. 1. Thereafter the resolution as well as the amendment were put to vote and by majority of sixteen versus fourteen the original resolution recommending only one-member Subjects Committee was passed and the amendment moved by petitioner No. 1 was rejected. Thereafter it was resolved that there shall be in all nine Subjects Committees and that the Vice-President of the Council shall be the ex officio Chairman of the Committee called `sweepers and Other Backward Class Welfare Committee". Then nominations were invited for elections to eight out of nine Subject Committees. As it was already decided that each subjects Committee shall have only one member and as the Vice-President was appointed as ex officio Chairman of the `sweepers and Other Backward Class Committee, there was no question of holding elections for the said `sweepers and Other Class Committee. It may be mentioned at this stage that the petitioners, who were in minority, decided not to participate in elections to the Subjects Committees by way of protest against the resolution for having only one member Subjects Committee. Only eight nominations were invited for the membership of eight Subjects Committees and naturally they were declared to be elected as unopposed. Thereafter eight Subjects Committees members, who have been declared to be elected as unopposed were also declared to be Chairman of the respective Subject Committees as each Subjects Committee consisted of only one member. Lastly, as far as the elections to the Standing Committee was concerned, the same was found unnecessary as the Chairman of each of the nine Subject Committee and the President of the Council constituted the ten members Standing Committee.

(3.) PETITIONER No. 1 thereafter filed an application before the Collector of Nasik under section 308 of the Act complaining that the resolution on Subject No. 2 by which the number of members of each Subjects Committee was restricted to one was illegal. He prayed that the said resolution as well as the elections to the Subjects Committees and the Standing Committee be stayed and further prayed to the Collector to make a recommendation to the Director of Municipal Administration to quash the impugned resolution and to issue necessary directions for holding fresh elections to the various Subjects Committees and the Standing Committee. The Collector of Nasik passed a cryptic order on 2nd January, 1992 rejecting the application of petitioner No. 1 on the ground that the provisions of section 65 (3) of the Act prescribed that the number of members of each Subjects Committee shall be less than five and as the number of the members of the Subjects Committee fixed by the Igatpuri Municipal Council is less than five, there is reason to interfere. The petitioners have filed the present petition challenging the validity of the resolutions passed by the Council as well as the order of the Collector rejecting application under section 308 of the Act.