The bench asked the petitioner how it can intervene in the matter as challenges pertaining to service appointments should be raised before the Administrative Tribunal.THE BOMBAY High Court on Thursday asked a petitioner social activist to show how his PIL challenging the appointment of Dilip Dhole, the incumbent Commissioner of Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation (MBMC), was maintainable.
A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Madhav J Jamdar was hearing a plea filed by Selvaraj Shanmugam claiming that current Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who was an Urban Development Minister in 2021, had made Dhole a commissioner in MBMC after dislodging then Commissioner who belonged to Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre.
The plea said the post was occupied by an IAS officer and he was removed. It said that Dhole was working as a Deputy Commissioner in the Goods and Service Tax Department and then was sent to the Ministry of Urban Development ministry, after which he was made additional municipal commissioner at MBMC in August, 2020. He was appointed the Municipal Commissioner in March, 2021.
The petitioner said the letters were addressed to Shinde as a Cabinet minister and Dhole’s appointment was a ‘political gimmick’ to suit the ruling dispensation’s requirement.
Shanmugam said the documents availed through Right to Information Act (RTI) reply, along with the news reports, showed that Shinde had directed the appointment of Dhole as Commissioner even though the said post was not vacant.
The bench asked the petitioner how it can intervene in the matter as challenges pertaining to service appointments should be raised before the Administrative Tribunal.