Indore: In a setback to the state government, Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court has stayed two notifications issued by the state government for inclusion or exclusion of any area from the city limits.
Through the first notification dated February 23, 2019, the government had delegated the power to the collectors for issuance of notification for inclusion or exclusion of any area from city limits. Through a subsequent notification dated February 27, 2019, the government had reserved rights with it to decide on inclusion or exclusion of areas to municipal limits.
Indore Municipal Corporation corproator Dilip Sharma filed a petition through Piyush Mathur and Pushyamitra Bhargava a petition challenging both the notifications.
In this petition, Sharma said that Sec 405(1) of the MP Municipal Corporation Act, 1956 provides that the Governor shall issue a notification with an intention to include or exclude any area from the limits of the city and sub-clause (2) provides for submission of objection to the collector and the objections are required to be considered by the Governor.
It has also been argued that Section 426-B of the MP Municipal Corporation Act, 1956 provides for delegation of powers by the State Government to any officer subordinate to it. It has been argued that the State Government can delegate powers which it possess under the Municipal Corporation Act, however, the powers of the Governor are to be exercised exclusively by the Governor alone.
The petitioner informed the court that the government delegated the Governor’s power of issuing notification for inclusion and exclusion of areas from city limits to the collector and also conferred on itself for deciding the same.
Additional Advocate General RS Chhabra argued that the Governor has to act as per the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers when exercising executive powers of the State. So, the state government, he argued, keeping in view the Business Allocation Rules was certainly competent to issue the notifications and no case for interference is made out in the matter.
After going through many previous cases, the division bench of Justice SC Sharma and Justice Shailendra Shukla stated that the HC in a case between State of Madhya Pradesh and Abhinesh Mahore had ruled that the "objections must be considered by the Governor before exercising his discretion to specify any area as excluded or included in the limits or Corporation or Municipality, as the case may be”.
Chhabra stated that the HC’s decision was challenged in the apex court. He, however, informed the court that there is no stay on the HC’s order till date.
To this, the high court stayed both the notifications issued by the government and listed the matter for December 2.
