Terming the plea challenging notification issued by the commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for delimitation as “thoroughly misconceived” and “politically motivated”, the Bombay High Court has dismissed the petition by members of BJP and MNS with a cost of Rs 50,000.
A public interest litigation was filed by Nitesh Rajhans of the BJP and Sagar Devre of MNS challenging the “legality and propriety” of the BMC notification of February 1, calling for suggestions and objections from the public. The number of electoral wards in the BMC have been increased from 227 to 236 for the forthcoming corporation elections.
A division bench of justices Amjad Sayed and Abhay Ahuja dismissed the plea observing: “We find that the PIL Petition is thoroughly misconceived. The PIL Petition, filed by members of rival political parties to the ruling coalition government, appears to be politically motivated ostensibly filed in public interest, and without any averment whether the Petitioner had raised any objections to the draft Notification, for which the last date was 14 February 2022.
The court also did not find merit in the petitioners’ contention that the delimitation exercise to change the boundaries of the Wards is being done to gain political mileage. Such statements are made “without laying any foundation in support of such assertion”, said the court.
Imposing cost of Rs 50,000, the HC said that both the petitioners would have to pay Rs 25,000 each to the Maharashtra State Legal Services Authority within three weeks from today.
The plea had contended that the State Election Commissioner (SEC) cannot delegate power to the BMC Commissioner to publish the draft Notification. It further contended that the BMC commissioner is not an independent person as he works under the directions of the Urban Development Department of the State of Maharashtra.
The second objection raised by the petition was that, as per order issued by the SEC on January 27, 2005, there is an express bar of the SEC from carrying out the exercise of alteration in the Ward boundaries prior to six months of the Corporation Election.
Here, the tenure of the Corporation is to end on March 8, 2022 and such alteration of boundaries is impermissible at this stage.
Opposing the plea, the BMC and SEC contended that, under the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, the State Election Commissioner had the power to delegate any of his powers and functions to any officer of the Corporation not below the rank of Ward Officer.
The court observed that the petition’s second objection is “based on a complete misreading” of the SEC order.
The SEC order states that no alteration in the boundaries of the local/self-government bodies should be made six months prior to the month of election. Thus, the bar applies only to alteration of the outer boundaries of the Corporation area. There is no bar on alteration of Ward boundaries within the Corporation area.
