AJAY KUMAR Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The aforesaid three writ petitions bearing CWP Nos. 14023, 14024 and 21850 of 2011 have been filed under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India praying for issuance of a writ in the nature of certiorari in each of them for quashing certain Government Notifications and they all are being disposed of by this common order as common questions of law and facts are involved therein.

(2.) In CWP No. 14023 of 2011 challenge is to the notification dated 26.7.2011 vide which the area of Municipal Council Pathankot has been declared as an urban area under Section 3(1) of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976, on the recommendation of respondent No.2, and further vide the same notification the Municipal Council, Pathankot has been dissolved and Municipal Corporation, Pathankot has been created for the larger urban area not fulfilling the the criteria set by the Government by itself as far back as in 1999, has been sought to be quashed.

(3.) The grievance of the petitioners in the present writ petition is that the Government of Punjab under the pressure of respondents No. 3 and 4 has done the aforesaid act of dissolution of the Municipal Council and declaring the said area as a larger urban area without any application of mind and ignoring the criteria fixed by the Government itself on 16.7.99, as stated above. The Municipal Council, Pathankot has been in existence for the last many years having an area of about 4-5 kilometers radius and a total population of 156000 which has been divided into 33 wards. There are only 90000 voters in the whole of the aforesaid Council. The villages are not the part of the said Council. The budget of the said Council for the year was Rs. 30 crores approximately which is yet to be approved by the Department of local Government. The State Government had issued instructions in February, 2011 giving guidelines with regard to preparation of budget as per which not more than 25% of the total budget could be spent on the establishment but at present more than 50% of the budget is being spent on establishment only and with the creation of Municipal Corporation another Rs. 5 crores will have to be spent on establishment itself thereby making the total budget for the same to be 60-65%. The relevant part of the aforesaid guidelines(AnnexureP-1) clearly mention where the income is Rs. 2 crores, only 25% can be spent on establishment and where the budget is more than Rs. 10 crores, only 20% can be so spent.