BADRI LAL Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner, a resident of Mount Abu, District Sirohi (Rajasthan) and an ex-member of Municipal Board, Mount Abu, has filed this writ petition challenging the constitution of Municipal Board, Mount Abu vide notification Annexures 1 and 2.

(2.) THERE were elected members in Municipal Board, Mount Abu, but the Government of Rajasthan issued a notification dated 10-3-75 in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-sec. (1) of sec. 10 of the Rajasthan Municipalities Act. 1959 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') for the purpose of carrying out improvement in a planned manner and to boost tourist traffic, ordered that the municipality of Mount Abu may consist of wholly nominated members. Seven persons were mentioned in this notification as nominated members and it was further mentioned that three non-official members including persons from the sehedule castes/tribes shall be nominated after approval by the Minister for Local Self Government This notification has been annexed with the writ petition and marked as Annexure 1. The Government again in partial modification of the above notification Annexure 1 and other notifications in this regard dated 17-1-76 and 10-12-76, issued another notification on January 5, 1977 in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of sec. 10 of the Act, reconstituting the nominated board, Mount Abu and vide this notification eight persons were nominated as members of the Board. Notification Annexure 2 reads as under: - LOCAL SELF GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT NOTIFICATION Jaipur, January 5, 1977. No F. 1 (36) LSG/73/1833-1843 - In partial modification of this Department Notification No. F. 1 (36) LSG/73/1678-85 dated 10-3-75, 17-1-76 and 10-12-76 and in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 10 of the Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 1959 (Act No. 38 of 1959), the State Government hereby reconstitute the nominated board Mt. Abu, namely as under: - 1. Dy. Director of Tourism, Mt. Abu Chairman 2. Divisional Officer, Mount Abu. Member 3. Dy. Director of Local Bodies, Raj. Jaipur 4. Divisional Forest Officer, Sirohi. " 5. Executive Engineer, P. W D. , Sirohi" 6. Dy. Town Planner, Jodhpur" 7. Smt. Merwaniji" 8. Shri Bhura Ram, M. L. A. . (S. T.) By Order of the Governor, Sd/ Dy. Secretary to the Govt. The Board is now functioning under the above notification Annexure 2. The petitioner has challenged Annexures 1 and 2 on the following grounds: - (1) that the State Government in exercise of the powers conferred under section 9 of the Act, issued a notification on May 11, 1974, whereby it has fixed the number of seats for the Municipal Board, Mount Abu to be ten, out of which seven shall be elected from general seats and one is reserved for members of the schedule castes and two are reserved for members of the schedule tribes. Thus, according to the above notification, the total number of seats for Municipal Board, Mount Abu has been fixed as ten and by notification Annexure 2, the State Government has nominated only eight members as such the Board is not a validly constituted Board, (2) that by the impugned notifications, the government has nominated persons by virtue of their office and has not neminated individual persons, which is not permitted in law, (3) that the officials mentioned at serial Nos. 1 to 6 in Annexure 2 are all persons, whe are holding a salaried appointment either under the Central Government or under the State Government and such persons are disqualified under section 26 of the Act, which lays down general disqualifications for members. (4) that the nominated members vide Annexure 2 do not include requisite number of members from the schedule casts and schedule tribes, which was necessary in accordance with the notification dated May 11, 1974, (5) that the nominated Board suffer from the infirmity that it does not include two requisite members from the female sex, which is also necessary in accordance with sub-section (5) of the section 9 of the Act, (6) that the government had no power to nominate the Chairman of the Municipal Board inasmuch as under section 65 of the Act, the Chairman has to be elected in accordance with rules made by the State Government in that behalf, by the members of the Board from amongst themselves. The government has already made rules in this regard as the Rajasthan Municipalities (Election of Chairman, Vice-Chairman, President and Vice-President) Rules, 1959 and as such the Chairman could not have been nominated by the gov-rnroent, (7) that the nominated members mentioned in the notification Annexure 2 have not taken the oath of office and in accordance with section 61 (2) of the Act, any member who fails to take oath before entering upon his duties within a period of three months from the date of the first meeting of the Board, shall be deemed to have vacated his seat and according to the petitioner, as the nominated members have not taken oath, their seats shall be deemed to have vacated automatically.

(3.) THE writ petition has, therefore, no force and is hereby dismissed with no order as to cost. .