SUDHATAI PANDURANG KALE Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) PETITIONER is the President of Jalgaon Municipal Council, a Council established under section 2 (6) of the Maharashtra Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats and Industrial Townships Act, 1965. Petitioner is elected as the President of the said Council on 25th November 1997. Section 62 of the Act of 1965 provides that there shall be a Standing Committee and six Subject Committees for A and "b" Class Municipal Councils and if any Council has acquired or established a Transport Undertaking, then an additional Transport Committee. The number of members of each committee is to be determined by the Council. However, it shall not be less than ?th and more than 1/3rd of the total number of Councillors. Sub-section (2) of section 63 provides that the Collector shall, within seven days of the election of the President under section 51, call a special meeting of the Council for the purpose of determining the number of members of each of the above referred Subject Committees and for holding elections to these Committees in the prescribed manner in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. A meeting called for the purpose is to be presided over by the Collector or any other officer nominated by him. Sub-section (4) of section 63 further provides that the Chairman of every Subjects Committee (other than the Subject Committee of which the Vice-President is to be the ex-officio Chairman), shall be elected by the members of that Committee at the meeting convened under sub-section (2 ). Thus the Act provides that the number of members of the Subjects Committees shall be determined by the Council, then the Council shall elect the members for each of the Committees by a single transferable vote and after the members are elected, they would elect a President from amongst themselves.

(2.) THOUGH sub-section (4) of section 63 says that the Chairman of a Subject Committee shall be elected by the members of that Subject Committee in the meeting convened under sub-section (2), a reasonable reading of the whole scheme goes to show that though a special meeting of the Councillors is convened by the Collector for determining the number of seats as well as for electing the members therefor simultaneously, the members so elected after their election, will have to sit together for electing the Chairman from amongst themselves. By the very nature of the function of electing a Chairman, the duty to elect the Chairman is cast on the members elected for that Committee and they will have to constitute themselves into the committee for electing the Chairman. Section 63 provides that the members will elect the Chairman in the meeting convened under sub-section (2) and a reasonable reading would mean that immediately after the election of the members, the Committees will have to meet and elect their Chairmen.

(3.) SUB-SECTION (3b) (i), which was inserted by the amendment made by the Maharashtra Act No. 4/74 reads as under : (3b) (i) : If the Council fails to fill up by election any vacancy of a member or members of any of the Subject Committees or if there is failure to elect a member at the fresh election, such vacancy or vacancies may, notwithstanding anything contained in this Chapter, be filled by nomination of a Councillor or Councillors, as the case may be, by the President; (ii) Any Councillors nominated by the President under Clause (i) shall be deemed to be elected under sub-section (2) (b) or section 69, as the case may be. " since the Municipal Council is excepted to function with the help of the Subject Committees and in case the Council fails to elect the members to the Subject Committees, provision is made authorising the President to nominate the members of the Committee and the members nominated by the President are deemed to have been elected under the relevant provisions.