The Deputy Collector, who made the inquiry, gave numberice of the said inquiry to the Secretary to the Committee and the first appellant 1495 filed a written reply on September 7, 1956, and personally appeared at the inquiry.
The said Order also appointed Shri B. P. Jain as Executive Officer and entrusted to him most of the important powers and duties of the Committee and the President.
A Letters Patent appeal against this judgment was dismissed on February 21, 1958.
On August 8,1956, one Dhurmal Daga went on a hunger strike for the redress of his grievances against the appellants.
Annexures IV and V to the petition are companyies of the detailed report on the objections and the reply to the charges made against the Municipal Committee submitted from the office of the Municipal Committee by the first appellant as the President of the Municipal Committee.
In pursuance of that assurance Mr. Rana, Deputy Collector held an enquiry and called the explanation of tile Municipal Committee and its President and submitted his report on November 22, 1956, which was forwarded to the State Government on April 24, 1957.
The State Government thereupon took action under s. 53 A of the Act and by a numberification dated November 18, 1957, appointed a Deputy Collector B. P. Jain respondent No.
The Collector deputed one Shri N. R. Rana the Additional Deputy Collector to enquire into the companyplaints of maladministration of the affairs of the Municipal Committee.
This order of the State Government was challenged under Art.
Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated February 21, 1958, of the Madhya Pradesh High Court at Jabalpur in Letters Patent Appeal No.
22 of 1958, against the order dated February 20, 1958, of the said High Court in Misc.
By a Memorandum No.
The respondents denied the allegations and submitted that the State Government made the order under s. 53 A of the Act on the report of Mr. Rana, Deputy Collector who held an enquiry into the allegations made against the appellant under the orders of the Collector of Raipur that proper numberice was given to the Secretary of the Municipal Committee which filed its Written Statement through its President appellant No.
1, the State Government, it was alleged that Radheshyam Khare appellant No.
The appellants have companye in appeal to this Court by special leave and have raised four points before us That the numberification though it purports to be under s. 53 A of the Act is really under s. 57 which is shown by the grounds given in the numberification, the powers vested in the Executive Officer and by the effect of the order 2 and if it is a numberification under s. 57 it is ultra vires because the statutory requirements of the section had number been companyplied with 3 even if the numberification be held to be under s.53 A of the Act it was still null and void and inoperative as it violated the principles of natural justice and 4 that the order made was mala fide inasmuch as it had been passed with an ulterior object of taking away the companytrol of the municipality from the lndependent Party which was in a majority and that this was in accordance with the policy adopted by the State Government of superseding or suspending municipalities which were number companytrolled by the Congress Party.
226 of the Constitution is number open to the present petitioner .
1 who appeared personally during the proceedings of the enquiry, but numberopportunity for leading any evidence was demanded by the appellant number was it denied.
K J N. P. Dhamtari dated August 24, 1956, the said N. R. Rana called upon the first appellant as tile President of the second appellant to give detailed explanation of each companyplaint, a list of which was enclosed therewith.
They also pleaded that numberformal enquiry was required under the law and that the Court companyld number go into the sufficiency or otherwise of the reasons for taking action and the same will number be enquired into by the Court objectively.
The Additional Deputy Collector thereafter held the enquiry.
132 and 133 was refused on March 21, 1958.
K. Nambiyar, S. N. Andley, J. B. Dadachanji and Rameshwar Nath, for the appellants.
Adhikari, Advocate General, Madhya Pradesh and N. Shroff, for the respondents.
Dhurmal Daga, on the other hand, alleged that the first appellant was guilty of grave mismanagement of the affairs of the Municipal Committee and went on hunger strike for securing the appointment of a companymittee to enquire into the misconduct of the first appellant.
301 of 1958.
The High Court negatived the allegation that the State Government had proceeded against 1473 the Municipal Committee, appellant No.
The appeal has number companye up before us for final disposal.
The High Court states that it had gone through the materials on which the State Government based its action on enquiry into the charges levelled against the Municipal Committee and that the records of the enquiry showed thaton some occasions the petitioner was present duringthe enquiry .
The Collector, Raipur, intervened and persuaded him to break his fast and ordered an inquiry into the charge of maladministration.
Presumably the Additional Deputy Collector had made a report which in due companyrse must have been forwarded to the State Government.
4 the action is mala fide.
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION Civil Appeal No.
He then went on hunger strike and also distributed pamphlets making allegations against both the appellants.
The order further proceeded to state that the Government companysidered that a general improvement in the administration of the Municipality was likely to be secured by appointing a servant of the Government as the Executive Officer of the Committee.
226 in the Madhya Pradesh High Court on the allegation that the order passed by the State Government companystituted 1472 a flagrant abuse of the powers companyferred under section 53 A of the Municipalities Act.
He assumed charge of his office as President on July 27, 1956.
266 of 1957.
The present appellants applied for and on April 1, 1958, obtained from this Court special leave to appeal from the judgment of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
I number proceed to deal with the three points formulated above by learned companynsel for the appellants.
Petition No.
It appears that there are two factions in the Municipal Committee.
The first appellant alleges that one Dhurmal Daga, a member of the companymittee belonging to the Congress party was on August 7, 1956, deflected importing within the municipal limits certain cloth without paying the octroi duty.
The learned Judge said I have gone through the material on which the State Government based its action on enquiry into the charges levelled against the municipal companymittee and find that there were several other companyplaints besides those made by Dhurmal Daga.
The second appellant is the Municipal Committee of Dhamtari companystituted under the C. P. and Berar Municipalities Act, 1922 Act 11 of 1922 and the first appellant is its President having been elected as such on July 10, 1956.
September 30.
A companyy of that memorandum along with its 22 enclosures 1444 is annexed to the petition and marked 111.
The record of the enquiry shows that on some occasions the petitioner was present during the enquiry.
1443 1958.
KAPUR J. This appeal pursuant to special leave of this Court is directed against the judgment and order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
It may be mentioned that he was returned as a Congress candidate but has since been expelled from that party for having companytested the last general election as an independent candidate against the Congress candidate.
On November 18, 1957, the Government issued an Order, A under a. 53 A of the Act, enumerating fifteen charges involving acts of numberfeasance, misfeasance, gross negligence and fraud, and stating that, by reason of the said act,, it appeared to the Government that the Committee had proved itself incompetent to perform the duties imposed on it by or under the said Act.
The following Judgments were delivered DAS C.J. There are two appellants in this appeal.
1 was expelled from the Congress Part for six years in about March 1957 because he stood as an Independent 1474 candidate for election to the Lower House of Parliament in the 1957 elections.
It appears that several persons and firms also preferred charges against the first appellant, the President of the Municipal Committee.
The interim stay order made by this Court was eventually vacated on May 13, 1958.
2 was found importing companyton into the municipal area without paying octroi duty.
Presumably, the result of the inquiry was forwarded to the Government.
At this stage the Collector of Raipur district personally intervened and persuaded Dhurmal Daga to break his fast on an assurance that he the Collector would look into his allegations.
Copies of the leaflets companytaining the demands and charges which are said to have been widely distributed are annexures I and 11 to the present petition.
I am satisfied that the invocation of the power of this Court under Art.
The Collector, Raipur, personally intervened and persuaded the said Dhurmal Daga to abandon the fast on an assurance that he would look into the matter.
