HC quashes secy order to remove deputy mayor

Patna: The Patna high court on Monday quashed the order of principal secretary, Urban Development and Housing Department (UDHD) to remove Roop Narayan from the post of deputy chief councillor (deputy mayor), Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC).
Hearing a writ petition challenging the principal secretary’s order dated October 30, 2015, the court of Justice Jyoti Saran observed that only the minister in-charge, and not the principle secretary of the department, is authorized to remove anyone from the post of deputy mayor.The court also stated that there was no provision in Bihar Municipal Act, 2007 for delegation of power.
Roop Narayan had challenged his removal. The principal secretary had stated that section 25(5) of Bihar Municipal Act, 2007, states the grounds for removal and one of the grounds is non-participation in five consecutive meetings.
Petitioner’s counsel Jitender Singh argued that in the amendment to the Act in 2011, the words ‘divisional commissioner’ were replaced by the word ‘government’ and the appellate power vested in the state government. Hence, the jurisdiction would shift to the minister in-charge of the department.
Singh also argued that the amendment to Section 44 of the Act mandates the state government to appoint a ‘lok prahari’ to inquire into the complaints regarding lack of integrity, malpractices, misdemeanour or the likes, against the chief councillor/deputy chief councillor. It is only on the lok prahari’s recommendation that any decision can be taken by the state government to remove the chief councillor/deputy chief councillor concerned. The failure on the part of the state government to appoint a lok prahari and to comply with the mandate of the legislature would render the present exercise illegal.
HC summons PU registrar: The Patna high court on Monday directed the Patna University (PU) registrar to appear before the court on Tuesday in a matter related to the removal of encroachments from Patna University premises. A division bench of acting Chief Justice Iqbal Ahmed Ansari and Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh was hearing the PIL filed by Vikash Chandra alias Guddu Baba who alleged that parts of various Patna University institutions were encroached.