The main legal point established in the judgment is the requirement for the State Government's opinion supported by reasons to suspend a resolution or order of the Corporation under Section 451(1) of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act, 1949.

JUDGMENT :

R.D. Dhanuka, J.

1. None appears for the respondent no.4 when the matter was called out.

2. The petitioners in Writ Petition (St.) No.98279 of 2020 have invoked Article 226 of the Constitution of India and have prayed for setting aside the decision dated 7th December 2020 and communication dated 8th December 2020 of the respondent nos.3 - Minister for Urban Development and Public Works Department and the respondent no.1 respectively.

3. The petitioner in Writ Petition No.3654 of 2020 has also invoked Article 226 of the Constitution of India and has impugned the resolution number 26 in respect of subject no.35 passed by the respondent no.1 in meeting dated 7th December 2020 and for other reliefs. Both the petitions were heard together.

4. The petitioner nos.1, 2 and 3 in Writ Petition (St.) No.98279 of 2020 are the Nominated Councillors of the respondent no.2 -Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation. The petitioner no.4 is the Group Leader and belongs to Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). The respondent no.3 is the learned Minister who has passed the impugned order granting stay to the resolution passed by Municipal Corporation on 7th December 2020. The respondent no.4 is a complainant on whose complaint the respondent no.3 had granted stay to the resolution passed by the Municipal Corporation. The name of the respondent no.5 is rejected in the said resolution for the time being however subject to further scrutiny.

5. In the month of August 2017, election for electing 95 Councillors in the respondent no.2 Municipal Corporation was held. BJP won 61 seats, Shiv Sena won 22 seats and Congress Lokshahi Aghadi won 12 seats. As per Rule 3 of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation (Qualifications and Appointment of Nominated Councillors) Rules, 2012 (for short “the said 2012 Rules”), 5 persons are required to be nominated as Nominated Councillors after the expiry of one month from the date of the notification of election results after general elections subject to the provisions of Rule 4.

6. On 24th January 2020, the Municipal Commissioner issued a public notice informing that 5 persons were to be nominated as Councillors in the Municipal Corporation and called for necessary documents. The petitioner nos.1 to 3 submitted their forms to the Secretary of the Municipal Corporation. Total 6 persons filed nomination forms pursuant to the notice dated 24th January 2020. Out of 6 persons, one of the candidate Shri Sohan Singh Bhagirath Singh Rajpurohit who belongs to BJP withdrew his nomination. The petitioner nos.1 to 3 all belong to BJP. On 13th February 2020, Municipal Commissioner issued a notice after scrutinizing the nomination forms of those 6 candidates and declared them as valid candidates.

7. An objection was raised by the Leader of House of Municipal Corporation on 3rd October 2020 to the Municipal Commissioner in respect of the eligibility of the respondent no.5 for being a Nominated Councillor. Similar objection was also raised by the petitioner no.4 being the Group Leader of BJP in the Municipal Corporation. On 22nd October 2020, a meeting of Municipal Corporation came to be held in which the Municipal Commissioner stated that the objection raised in respect of the candidature of the respondent no.5 by the respondent no.4 and Mr.Prashant Dalvi was rejected. It is further informed to the house that an appropriate decision in respect of the candidature of the respondent no.5 would be taken by the Municipal Corporation since it is the supreme body. In this meeting, one of 6 candidates, Shri Sohan Singh Rajpurohit withdrew his candidature which withdrawal was accepted by the Municipal Corporation.

8. The Municipal Commissioner issued Minutes on 4th December 2020 in respect of agenda at Item No.35 of the said notice dated 26th November 2020. The Municipal Commissioner recommended the names of 5 persons i.e. the petitioner nos.1 to 3 who belong to BJP, the respondent no.5 who belongs to Shiv Sena and Mr.Shafique Ahmed Shadad Khan who belongs