JUDGMENT :

CHAKRADHARI SHARAN SINGH, J.

1. The democratic set up of the country has been recognized as basic feature of the Constitution, like other features, namely, supremacy of Constitution, rule of law, principle of separation of powers, power of judicial review under Articles 32, 226 and 227 of the Constitution. ‘Basic’ means the basis of a thing on which it stands, on the failure of which it falls. The enunciation of law to this effect in case of Ravi Yashwant Bhoir vs. District Collector, Raigad and others reported in (2012) 4 SCC 407 is being referred at the outset in the present judgment for two basic reasons. Firstly, we are utterly dismayed over the manner in which the Principal Secretary of Urban Development and Housing Department, Govt. of Bihar (Department in short), in exercise of power under Section 25(5) of the Bihar Municipal Act, 2007 ( for short ‘the Act’) has passed an order removing the petitioner from the post of Chief Councillor, Siwan Nagar Parishad. Secondly, the order which has the effect of removal of a person, democratically elected to an office of a local body having constitutional status, is patently perverse, disclosing complete non-application of mind.

2. In the present writ application, the petitioner has put to challenge an order dated 29.11.2021, issued by the Department under the signature of its Under Secretary. We consider it apt to reproduce the impugned order verbatim:-

^^fcgkj ljdkj

uxjikfydk iz'kklu funs'kky;

¼uxj fodkl,oa vkokl foHkkx½

vkns'k

lafpdk la[;k&10@u0fo0@fofo/k&06@2021

fnukad%& Jh foØe daqoj] iwo jkT; ea=h,oa vU; }kjk ftyk inkf/kdkjh dks lefiZr ifjokn i= dh tk¡p ftyk inkf/kdkjh] floku }kjk djkbZ xbZ rFkk tk¡pksijkUr tk¡p izfrosnu i=akd&775] fnukad&06-04-2021 }kjk izsf"kr fd;k x;k gSA tk¡p izfrosnu esa Jhefr flU/kq flga] eq[; ik"kZn] uxj ifj"kn] floku ds fo:) fuEufyf[kr vkjksi izekf.kr ik, x, gSa %&

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¼2½ ;kstuk esa iz;qDr gksus okyh lkexzh dh tk¡p dk;Z ds igys vkSj ckn esa Hkh ugha djkbZ xbZ gSaA

¼3½ dk;kZns'k ds vuqlkj ;kstuk fnukad 26-09-2017 dks iw.kZ gksus okyh Fkh] ftlesa in dk nq:i;ksx djrs gq, fnukad 20-02-2018 dks iw.kZ fd;k x;k vkSj fcuk le; foLrkj djk;s vkSj fcuk 10 izfr'kr dh jkf'k dh dVkSrh fd;s 5 ¼ik¡p½ fd'rksa esa Hkqxrku fd;k x;kA

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¼5½ dwM+k fuLrkj.k ds uke ij ljdkj ds funZs'kksa ls gVdj] fcuk l{ke vf/kdkjh ls vkns'k izkIr fd;s :0 4]00]037]85-00 ¼pkj djksM+ rhu gtkj lkr lkS ipklh½ :i;s tehu Ø; ds uke ij [kpZ fd, x, gSaA

¼6½ uxj ifj"kn] floku ds lk/kkj.k cSBd ls :0 50]000]00-00 ¼ipkl yk[k½ rd dh [kjhnkjh dh iz'kklfud Lohd`fr dh 'kfDr izkIr gS] bruh cM+h jkf'k dh [kjhn ds fy, iwoZ esa l{ke izkf/kdkj ls Lohd`fr izkIr ugha dh x;h gSA

¼7½ rRdkyhu dk;Zikyd inkf/kdkjh dks fnukad 30-06-2017 fn;k x;k vkns'k ^^izfrosnu cksMZ dh cSBd esa j[kdj izLrko dh liaqf"V izkIr djsa^^] cksMZ dh cSBd dk rkRi;Z lk/kkj.k cSBd ls gksrk gS] tcfd fo'ks"k cSBd fnukad 30-06-2017 ds izLrko la[;k&4 ds vU;k; (xxi)}kjk LFkkbZ lfefr dh cSBd fnukad 27-06-2017 dh liaqf"V dh x;h gSA

¼8½ Ø; dh x;h tehu ij uxj ifj"kn viuk dCtk ugha dj ik jgk gSA futh Hkwfe dk Ø; xzkeh.kksa ds fojks/k ds ckotwn Hkh LokFkZ iwfrZ ds fy, fd;k x;k gS vkSj tehu dk mi;ksx ugha gks jgk gSA

¼9½ Hkwfe Ø; ds MhM ds i`"B la[;k&4 esa Hkqxrku fooj.kh ds dkWye esa fy[kk x;k gS fd tehu ds ewY; dk Hkqxrku muds,oa muyksxksa ds xfBr lewg ;wfud MsoyilZ }kjk la;qDr :i ls gksxh tcfd MhM ls foØsrk ds :i esa ;wfud MsoyilZ ugha gSA

¼10½ ;wfud MsoyilZ dks cM+h jk