JUDGMENT :

A.A. SAYED, J.

1. The Petitioners, who are Councillors of Mumbai Municipal Corporation, have questioned the Constitutional validity of the Ordinance No. XIII of 2021 dated 30 November 2021. By the impugned Ordinance, section 5(1)(a) of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888, is amended by increasing the number of directly elected Municipal Councillors from 227 to 236.

2. Section 5 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1988, provides for the composition of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Corporation’). Section 5(1)(a) reads thus:

“(1) The Corporation shall consist of:

(a) two hundred and twenty seven Councillors directly elected at Ward elections.”

3. Census is taken every ten years under the Census Act, 1948 and Census Rules, 1990. The case of the Petitioners is as under:

(i) In the 1991 Census of India, the population of Brihan Mumbai (hereinafter referred to as “Mumbai”) was recorded as 98,09,936. The number of directly elected Councillors (hereinafter referred to as ‘Councillors’) in the Corporation was 221.

(ii) In the next Census i.e. 2001 Census, the population of Mumbai was recorded as 1,19,78,450. Due to the increase in population