Writ Petition No. 2802 of 2015. Case: Mahesh Vishnupant Kothe Vs Sanjay Channvirappa Hemgaddi. High Court of Bombay (India)
| Case Number | Writ Petition No. 2802 of 2015 |
| Counsel | For Petitioner: P. S. Dani, Sr. Adv. i/by, Anand S. Kulkarni, Advs. and For Respondents: P. K. Dhakephalkar, Sr. Adv. i/by T. D. Deshmukh, Samrat K. Shinde and Ms. Gauri Raghuwanshi, Ms. M. S. Bane, Advs. |
| Judges | R. M. Savant, J. |
| Issue | Maharashtra Local Authority Members Disqualification Act (20 of 1987) - Section 3(1)(a) |
| Citation | AIR 2015 BOM 178 |
| Judgement Date | April 13, 2015 |
| Court | High Court of Bombay (India) |
Judgment:
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Rule, with the consent of the Learned Counsel for the parties made returnable forthwith and heard.
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The Writ Jurisdiction of this Court is invoked against the order dated 02.03.2015 passed by the Respondent No. 3 i.e. the Divisional Commissioner, Pune Division, Pune, by which order the application for disqualification filed by the Respondent Nos. 1 and 2 herein being No. NP/1/SR/01/2014 came to be allowed and resultantly, a declaration came to be issued that the Petitioner stands disqualified as a Councillor of the Solapur Municipal Corporation under Section 3(1)(a) of the Maharashtra Local Authority Members Disqualification Act, 1986.
The facts giving rise to the filing of the above Petition can be stated thus:-
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The Petitioner was at the relevant time a member of the Indian National Congress and was elected as a Councillor from Ward No. 18 in the elections held to the Solapur Municipal Corporation in the year 2012. The Petitioner was thereafter appointed as a house leader of the Indian National Congress, Municipal Party. It seems that a post poll alliance was entered into between the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party in the Municipal Corporation.
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The elections to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly were announced and were to be held in October-November, 2014. There were reports in various newspapers having circulation in Solapur published on 6/7 October, 2014 of the Petitioner joining the rival party of the Indian National Congress namely the Shiv Sena. In the newspapers, the Petitioner's photographs with the leaders of the Shiv Sena were published along with news reports of the Petitioner joining the Shiv Sena.
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The Respondent Nos. 1 and 2 being the District President of the Indian National Congress and the house leader in the Solapur Municipal Corporation filed an application dated 02.09.2014 under Section 7 of the Maharashtra Local Authority Members Disqualification Act, 1986 (hereinafter for the sake of brevity referred as "the Disqualification Act") seeking disqualification of the Petitioner under Section 3(1)(a) thereof. In support of the said application the Respondent Nos. 1 and 2 annexed about 12 press reports. Another application came to be filed on behalf of the Respondent No. 2 on the same day i.e. 02-09-2014. It appears that the State President of the Indian National Congress vide his letter dated 08.08.2014 communicated to the Petitioner of his expulsion from the Indian National Congress. The Respondent Nos. 1 and 2 i.e. Applicants under the cover of the letter dated 04.10.2014 forwarded further documents in support of their applications dated 02.09.2014 relating to the Petitioner contesting the assembly elections from the 249, Solapur City Assembly Constituency as a candidate of the Shiv Sena. The said documents were the following:
"(1) Nomination form the Petitioner as the candidate of the Shiv Sena.
(2) Affidavit of the Petitioner submitted along with the nomination paper.
(3) A, B form given to the Petitioner by the Shiv Sena Party.
(4) The final list of the candidates declared by the Returning Officer for the said 249, Solapur City Assembly Constituency."
The said documents were procured by the Respondent Nos. 1 and 2 from the Returning Officer and certified copies of the said documents were filed by the Respondent Nos. 1 and 2 before the Respondent No. 3.
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The Petitioner filed his reply dated 07.11.2014 to the said application. In his reply, the Petitioner stated that the said application filed by the Respondent Nos. 1 and 2 is illegal. The Petitioner contended that the material furnished along with the application is false and not acceptable to the Petitioner. The Petitioner in the said reply further stated that the photographs and reports are not admissible as per law. It was lastly stated by the Petitioner in the said reply that the documents regarding the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Elections have no nexus to the present application for disqualification of the Petitioner as a Municipal Councillor.
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The Respondent No. 3 i.e. Divisional Commissioner before whom the application was filed by the Respondent Nos. 1 and 2 in terms of Rule 7(6) of the Maharashtra Local Authority Disqualification Rules, 1987 (for short "The 1987 Rules") framed the following charge against the Petitioner: (English Translation)
That Shri. Mahesh Vishnupant Kothe, the...
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