Supreme Court Annual Digest 2022- Panchayats And Municipalities

Constitution of India, 1950; Article 226 - Specific Performance - No writ of mandamus could have been issued virtually granting the writ for specific performance of the contract/work order in a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. (Para 8) Municipal Corporation Gondia v. Divi Works & Suppliers HUF, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 225 : 2022 (4) SCALE 262

Constitution of India, 1950; Article 243E, 243U - Constitutional Mandate to hold local body elections in time inviolable- Neither the State Election Commission nor the State Government or for that matter the State Legislature, including this Court in exercise of powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India can countenance dispensation to the contrary. (Para 5) Suresh Mahajan v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 463 : AIR 2022 SC 2739

Constitution of India, 1950; Article 243-Q(1) Proviso; Entry 52 of List II of the Seventh Schedule - Whether the exclusion of an industrial area or areas from the limits of municipal councils or municipalities under the state laws in exercise of statutory power or by virtue of a declaration under proviso to Article 243-Q, would result in that area ceasing to be a "local area" within Entry 52 of List II ? - Industrial areas or estates are equally "local areas" - The application of state laws regarding industrial areas squarely falls within the expression "description of a body constituted for the purposes of local affairs of the State". (Para 45) OCL India Ltd. v. State of Orissa, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 911 : AIR 2022 SC 5609

Constitution of India, 1950; Article 300A - Requirement of public purpose is a pre-condition and right to claim compensation is also inbuilt in Article 300-A. (Para 21) Kalyani v. Sulthan Bathery Municipality, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 410 : AIR 2022 SC 2073

Constitution of India, 1950; Articles 243X and 243Y - Whether any proposal for change or modification in the methodology adopted for levy of property tax ought to have been initiated through the Finance Commission alone? If the Legislature itself has taken into account certain prevailing situation, which according to the Legislature is causing some prejudice to the financial health and condition of the municipalities and, therefore, the method of imposition of property tax ought to be changed, it cannot then be said that the matter must necessarily and ought to have emanated from the Finance Commission or that in the absence of such recommendations by the Finance Commission, no steps could have been taken by the Legislature. (Para 25-27) Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai v. Property Owners Association, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 927

Constitution of India, 1950; Part IX A, Article 243-Q(1) Proviso - The proviso to Article 243-Q(1) has to be read in context, that industrial areas and estates, administered in terms of some legal regime, where some municipal services were provided, could be exempt from the requirements spelt out in Part IX-A of the Constitution - The focus of provisions of Part IX-A of the Constitution inserted through the 74th Amendment was on local self-governance and all provisions concerning it. It had no relevance to the issue of State taxation. (Para 44) OCL India Ltd. v. State of Orissa, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 911 : AIR 2022 SC 5609

Constitution of India, 1950; Part IXA - Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 2009; Section 5, 329 - The scheme of Part IXA does not contemplate a separate notification under Article 243Q of the Constitution and thereafter under Section 5 of the Municipalities Act. As Section 5 of the Municipalities Act is not inconsistent with any provisions of Article 243Q of the Constitution, therefore, two notifications are not contemplated or warranted under the Scheme of Part IXA or the Municipalities Act - The State Government is competent to divide the Municipalities in the State into classes according to their income or other factors like population or importance of the local area and other circumstances as provided under Section 329 of the Municipalities Act. (Para 16-17) State of Rajasthan v. Ashok Khetoliya, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 263

Constitution of India, 1950; Part IXA - Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 2009; Section 5, 329 - Appeal against Rajasthan High Court set aside a notification declaring Gram Panchayat Roopbas, District Bharatpur as Municipal Board on the ground that no public notification as contemplated under Article 243Q(2) of the Constitution of India has been produced specifying Gram Panchayat Roopbas as a "transitional area" and thus, it cannot be declared as a Municipal Board - Allowed - State Government had exercised powers to establish Municipality in terms of Section 5 of the Municipalities Act. State of Rajasthan v. Ashok Khetoliya, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 263

CRZ violations - Maradu Flats Demolition - The owners of the flats in the four buildings in Maradu, Kochi, which were demolished in 2020 for CRZ violations, are not entitled to interest on the refund payable to them by the builders. Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority v. Maradu Municipality, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 485 : AIR 2022 SC 2377 : (2022) 8 SCC 240

Municipal Corporation Act, 1888 (Mumbai); Section 154 - Capital Value Rules - Rule 20 of the Capital Value Rules of 2010 and 2015 empower the Commissioner to consider the capability of the open land of utilizing more than 1 floor space index (FSI) or any transfer of development right (TDR), would go well beyond the permissible scope delineated by the provisions of Section 154 of the MMC Act - Rule 20 of the Capital Value Rules of 2010 and the Capital Value Rules of 2015 would be ultra vires the provisions of sub­Sections (1A) and (1B) of Section 154 of the MMC Act - There being no empowerment to compute and/or levy property tax with retrospective effect by the statute itself, the rule making power, in any view of the matter, could not have created a liability pertaining to the period well before the Rules came into effect. (Para 38-39) Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai v. Property Owners Association, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 927

Municipal Corporation Act, 1888 (Mumbai); Section 154 - Imposition of property tax on the capital value - For the purpose of determining capital value, only the present physical attributes and status of the land and building can be considered and not the future prospects of the land - Statutory provisions do not contemplate any likelihood of exploitation of capacity in future - The capital value of the land and building must be based on situation "in presenti" - In projects which are in progress, the value addition to the property would be ongoing feature. (Para 36-40) Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai v. Property Owners Association, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 927

Municipal Corporation Act, 1949 (Maharashtra); Section 39A - Appointment of the Additional Municipal Commissioners - State Government created post and made appointment, but for Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation - Additional Municipal Commissioner to exercise power subject to the control of the Commissioner - Respondent no. 1 was an employee of the Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation. Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation v. Sanjay Gajanan Gharat, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 337 : AIR 2022 SC 1618

Municipal Corporation Act, 1949 (Maharashtra); Section 56 - Imposition of penalties on municipal officer and servants - the Commissioner was empowered to suspend any officer, whether appointed by the Corporation or any other competent authority - In case of 'post equivalent to or higher in rank than the post of Assistant Commissioner', in terms of Section 56(1)(a) it is required to take prior approval from the Corporation - When a Transport Manager or officers appointed under Section 45 of the MMC Act is suspended by the Commissioner they are to inform the Corporation, which is to confirm suspension within a period of six months or else the suspension would come to an end - the Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation will have the power to suspend or initiate departmental proceedings against an AMC, who is an officer superior in rank to the Assistant Commissioner. Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation v. Sanjay Gajanan Gharat, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 337 : AIR 2022 SC 1618

Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 (Delhi)

Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 (Delhi); Sections 42(f), 390 391 - Until and unless the conditions as mentioned in Section 391 are satisfied and it is specifically found that any burning or burial ground has become offensive, or dangerous to the health of the persons residing at neighbourhood, the burning and burial ground can be ordered to be closed with the previous sanction of the Standing Committee - Subsequent settlement of residents in city/town by itself not a ground to shift cremetorium - It is the duty cast upon the Municipal Corporation to make provision for regulation of places for the disposal of dead and the provision of maintenance of said places is an obligatory function of Municipal Corporation. (Para 5-6) South Delhi Municipal Corporation v. Federation of Residents Welfare Association Vasant Kunj, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 883 : AIR 2022 SC 5409

Municipal Corporation Act, 1976 (Karnataka) - Karnataka Municipal Corporation (Election) Rules, 1979 - No legal or normative impediment for the State Election Commission to issue directions requiring disclosure of assets of the candidate, his/her spouse and dependent associates by way of affidavit - Purity of election at all levels, be it election to the Union Parliament or a State Legislature or a Municipal Corporation or a Panchayat is a matter of national importance in which a uniform policy is desirable in the interest of all the States. A hypertechnical view of the omission to incorporate any specific provision in the KMC Election Rules, similar to the 1961 Rules, expressly requiring disclosure of assets, to condone dishonesty and corrupt practice would be against the spirit of the Constitution and public interest. (Para 70-74) S. Rukmini Madegowda v. State Election Commission, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 766 : AIR 2022 SC 4347

Municipal Corporation Act, 1976 (Karnataka); Section 39 - The non-disclosure of assets would therefore, also amount to 'undue influence' and consequently to 'corrupt practices' under the KMC Act. (Para 62) S. Rukmini Madegowda v. State Election Commission, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 766 : AIR 2022 SC 4347

Municipal Corporations Act, 1949 (Maharashtra); Sections 6, 6A, 20(3) Proviso - Standing Committee stands dissolved along with the completion of the term of the Corporation -The proviso cannot be read to mean that notwithstanding the expiration of the duration of a Corporation and thereby, termination of the term of office of the Councillors, there could still be any Standing Committee in existence. (Para 13-15) Hemant Narayan Rasne v. Commissioner and Administrator of Pune Municipal Corporation, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 895

Municipalities Shiksha Karmis (Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1998 (Chhattisgarh); Rule 7 - Municipal Employees (Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1968 - A Shiksha Karmi cannot claim parity in pay-scale with that of Municipal teachers on the principle of equal pay for equal work - They are governed by the Shiksha Karmis Rules, 1998 under which they were appointed, are entitled to pay-scales under the Shiksha Karmis Rules, 1998 only. (Para 7) Dr. K.M. Sharma v. State of Chhattisgarh, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 512 : 2022 (9) SCALE 30

Panchayat Raj (Maintenance of Family Register) Rules, 1970 (U.P.) - Family register does not only contain date of birth but also keeps the records of any additions in the family, though the evidentiary value needs to be examined in each case - It is a question of fact as to how much evidentiary value is to be attached to the family register, but to say that it is entirely not relevant would not be the correct enunciation of law. The register is being maintained in accordance with the rules framed under a statute. (Para 35 -36) Manoj @ Monu @ Vishal Chaudhary v. State of Haryana, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 170 : AIR 2022 SC 1060 : (2022) 6 SCC 187

Panchayat Raj (Maintenance of Family Register) Rules, 1970 (U.P.) - Birth certificate issued by corporation or municipal authority or a panchayat is a relevant document to prove the juvenility. The family register is not a birth certificate. Therefore, it would not strictly fall within clause (iii) of Rule 12(3) of the Rules. (Para 37) Manoj @ Monu @ Vishal Chaudhary v. State of Haryana, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 170 : AIR 2022 SC 1060 : (2022) 6 SCC 187

Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 (Kerala); Section 102(1)(ca) - The failure to make a true disclosure in Form 2A, regarding the past conviction, will certainly come within the meaning of the word 'fake', mentioned in Section 102 (1)(ca) - A person having criminal antecedents, poses himself to be one without any such antecedent, when he fails to make a true disclosure. In law, he passes off or comes out as a person without any criminal antecedent. (Para 33) Ravi Namboothiri v. K.A. Baiju, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 933

Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 (Kerala); Section 52(1A) - The words "involvement in a criminal case at the time of filing of the nomination" would only mean (i) cases where a criminal complaint is pending investigation/trial; (ii) cases where the conviction and/or sentence is current at the time of filing of the nomination; and (iii) cases where the conviction is the subject matter of any appeal or revision pending at the time of the nomination. (Para 37) Ravi Namboothiri v. K.A. Baiju, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 933

Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 (Kerala); Section 52(1A) and 102(1) - Police Act, 1960 (Kerala); Sections 38 and 52 - The failure of the elected candidate to disclose (in nomination form) his conviction for an offence under the Kerala Police Act for holding a dharna in front of the Panchayat office, cannot be taken as a ground for declaring an election void. (Para 46) Ravi Namboothiri v. K.A. Baiju, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 933

Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966 (Maharashtra); Section 126 - Once the Act does not contemplate any further period for acquisition - The land owner cannot be deprived of the use of the land for years together. Once an embargo has been put on a land owner not to use the land in a particular manner, the said restriction cannot be kept open-ended for indefinite period. The Statute has provided a period of ten years to acquire the land under Section 126 of the Act. Additional one year is granted to the land owner to serve a notice for acquisition prior to the amendment by Maharashtra Act No. 42 of 2015. Such time line is sacrosanct and has to be adhered to by the State or by the Authorities under the State - The State or its functionaries cannot be directed to acquire the land as the acquisition is on its satisfaction that the land is required for a public purpose. If the State was inactive for long number of years, the Courts would not issue direction for acquisition of land, which is exercise of power of the State to invoke its rights of eminent domain. (Para 7, 8) Laxmikant v. State of Maharashtra, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 315 : (2022) 7 SCC 252

Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966 (Maharashtra); Section 126 - Appeal against judgment of Bombay High Court which gave planning Authority one year further time to acquire the land once reserved relying upon a Supreme Court judgment in Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai & Ors. v. Hiraman Sitaram Deorukhar & Ors (2019) 14 SCC 411 - Allowed - The direction to acquire land within a period of one year is in fact contravening the time line fixed under the Statute. Consequently, the direction to acquire the land within one year is set aside. Laxmikant v. State of Maharashtra, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 315 : (2022) 7 SCC 252

Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961 (Punjab) (amended by Haryana Act No. 9/1992 ) - Constitutional validity upheld - Land for common purposes can be classified in three categories - Part of agrarian reforms and is protected by Article 31A of the Constitution of India, 1950 - The Amending Act does not acquire land or deprive the proprietors of their ownership as such ownership stood already divested in view of consolidation scheme reserving land for common purposes - Only a clarificatory or a declaratory amendment as the land stood vested in the panchayat - The Amending Act having been enacted after the assent of the President, is protected in terms of Article 31A of the Constitution - The entire land reserved for common purposes by applying pro-rata cut had to be utilised by the Gram Panchayat for the present and future needs of the village community and that no part of the land can be re-partitioned amongst the proprietors. State of Haryana v. Jai Singh, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 361 : AIR 2022 SC 1718

Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961 (Punjab); Section 13(b) - Land Revenue Act, 1887 (Punjab); Section 45 - Section 45 of the Punjab Land Revenue Act shall be applicable only in a case where the plaintiff wants to protect his possession on the basis of his name in the mutation record and/or revenue record. However, any dispute with respect to mutation entry can only be before the revenue authorities only. Ishwar v. Gram Panchayat Parli Khurd, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 875

Village Panchayats Act, 1959 (Maharashtra); Section 14B(1) - Constitution of India, 1950; Article 226 - If the State Election Commission or its delegatee were to reject or drop the proceedings against the concerned person or member initiated under Section 14B(1), as being devoid of merits or for any other reason, the complainant does not have remedy of appeal against such decision. Such an order becomes final and is not appealable at all. Indeed, it can be assailed before the constitutional court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. (Para 18) Shobhabai Narayan Shinde v. Divisional Commissioner, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 11 : (2022) 3 SCC 35

Village Panchayats Act, 1959 (Maharashtra); Section 14B(1) - No remedy of appeal is envisaged against an order of the State Election Commission or its delegatee – the Collector, under Section 14B(1), rejecting the complaint or to drop the proceedings for declaration of a Sarpanch/Member having incurred disqualification. That order becomes final and if passed by the Collector as the delegatee, is deemed to have been passed by the State Election Commission itself. Even the State Election Commission cannot step in thereafter in any manner much less in the guise of reconsideration or review of such order. It must follow that the Divisional Commissioner would have no jurisdiction (ab initio) to entertain assail to such an order of the Collector. (Para 21) Shobhabai Narayan Shinde v. Divisional Commissioner, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 11 : (2022) 3 SCC 35

Village Panchayats Act, 1959 (Maharashtra); Section 14B(1) and 16 - The processes under Section 14B(1) and Section 16 are completely different, though concern the matter of disqualification and vacancy arising therefrom. In case, the Collector rejects the complaint and drops the proceedings in favour of concerned Sarpanch/Member, there would be no question of accrual of any vacancy. In contradistinction, if the Collector declares the member as having incurred disqualification, the follow­up issue required to be considered by the Collector under Section 16 then is to ascertain if any vacancy had arisen because of such disqualification. The two are different processes. (Para 20) Shobhabai Narayan Shinde v. Divisional Commissioner, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 11 : (2022) 3 SCC 35

Voluntary Surrender - If the Panchayat / Municipality is taking a stand that a land was voluntarily surrendered, the burden would be on the Panchayat / Municipality to establish such voluntary surrender. (Para 12-13) Kalyani v. Sulthan Bathery Municipality, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 410 : AIR 2022 SC 2073