Indore: Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court on Thursday stayed an order by divisional commissioner and further proceedings in connection with a complaint seeking disqualification of 14 BJP corporators for allegedly skipping Indore Municipal Corporations meetings. Former corporator Chintu Choukse had filed a complaint with division commissioner office claiming that 14 BJP corporators (from Indore-2 Assembly Constituency) had been giving a miss to IMC council meetings.
The complainant had said that as per Section 25A of MP Municipal Corporation Act, 1956 , it is the duty of corporators to remain present and participate regularly in the meetings of the corporation and to cast their vote on the matter included in the agenda of such meetings. Choukse said the corporators failed to attend meeting on December 15, 2016, March 3, 2017 and June 13, 2017.
“As a result, they should be disqualified and disabled from continuing to be a corporator and their office should be declared vacant in the light of Section 17 of the Act.” Entertaining the complaint, the divisional commissioner had issued notices to corporators and time to time passed orders. To this, corporator Rajendra Rathore and other corproartors had moved a petition in the High Court claiming that the divisional commission does not have right to take decision on application seeking disqualification of corproators.
The petitioners counsel argued in the court that Section 17(3) of the Act empowers the state government to pass appropriate order in respect of the fact whether a vacancy has occurred or not. “Unless and until the State Government has passed an order, the corporator cannot be disabled from continuing,” the petitioners counsel said. “The court observed prima facie it appears that state government is certainly required to pass an appropriate order in the matter. In the present case no such order is passed by the State Government,” the petitioners counsel Pushymitra Bharagava said. He said that granting interim relief to the petitioners, Justice SC Sharma stayed order dated April 10 passed by the division commissioner and further proceeding pursuant to the order. The court fixed next date for hearing in the case to July 11.