Ashwani Kumar Singh, J.—In the present application, the petitioner has prayed for quashing of the order dated 27.06.2022 issued under the signature of the Deputy Municipal Commissioner, Patna Municipal Corporation (for short ‘PMC’) under the order of Municipal Commissioner, PMC, as contained in Annexure-1 ‘E’ of the writ petition whereby in view of the recommendation made by Sri Rabindra Prasad, the Chief Town Engineer, the administrative approval granted for the scheme, namely, ‘Construction of Chamber Leakage (Drain) near MIG-129 and both sides of House No. U-469’ has been cancelled.

2. The admitted facts of the present case are as under:—

(i) The petitioner is an Ex-ward Councillor of the PMC from Ward No.34.

(ii) In the 22nd General Meeting of the Board of Councillor, (which is the apex body of the PMC) convened on 05.06.2021, it was proposed that each Councillor can select scheme/schemes upto one crore on priority basis for promoting development works in his ward. The said proposal was approved by the Board of Councillor vide Proposal No.215 and an order in this regard was passed by the Municipal Commissioner, PMC vide Letter No.10740 dated 18.07.2021.

(iii) The petitioner being the Ward Councillor of Ward No.34 recommended altogether 13 schemes for development work in Ward No.34.

(iv) One of the schemes out of the aforesaid 13 schemes i.e., Scheme No.1 was named as ‘Construction of Chamber Leakage (Drain) near MIG-129 and both sides of House No.U-469’. The estimated cost of the said scheme was Rs.6,69,100/-.

(v) The aforesaid 13 schemes recommended by the petitioner under the One Crore Scheme of the PMC was approved by the Chief Town Engineer and a favourable recommendation was also made by the Chartered Accountant after due inquiry, as the total estimated cost of the 13 schemes was Rs.99,63,600/- only.

(vi) Accordingly, the Municipal Commissioner, PMC accorded administrative approval for all the 13 schemes on 05.11.2011 on the file.

(vii) Thereafter, the Deputy Municipal Commissioner, PMC vide Letter No.15193 dated 16.11.2011 issued administrative approval order in compliance of the administrative approval of the schemes granted by the Municipal Commissioner, PMC.

(viii) On 23.11.2021, E-Notice Inviting Tender was published, allowing time to participate in the bid process till 5:00 p.m. of 06.01.2022.

(ix) After completion of the tender process, the work order was issued by the Executive Engineer, Kankarbagh Division, PMC in favour of one Brijesh Kumar Rai and an agreement with regard to the scheme in question was also executed.

(x) Thereafter, a complaint was received by the PMC from one Sushil Kumar alleging therein that an old sewerage line is passing through public Plot/House No.U-469, which is fully functional and, as such, there is no need to construct a new drain adjoining the plot/house in question.

(xi) On the basis of the aforesaid complaint of Sushil Kumar, the Municipal Commissioner, PMC directed for a physical inspection of the site vide order dated 20.04.2022 by a team of engineers and instructed them to submit a report.

(xii) Accordingly, on 20.04.2022 itself, a team of engineers consisting of (i) The Chief Town Engineer, PMC, (ii) Executive Engineer (Headquarter), PMC, (iii) Executive Engineer, Kankarbagh Division, PMC, (iv) Assistant Engineer, Kankarbagh Division, PMC and (v) Junior Engineer, Kankarbagh Division, PMC conducted a detailed physical inspection of the site in presence of the complainant Sushil Kumar and submitted a report on 20.04.2022.

(xiii) After considering the inquiry report submitted by the team of engineers on 20.04.2022, the impugned order was passed whereby the administrative approval order in relation to the scheme namely, ‘Construction of Chamber Leakage (Drain) near MIG-129 and both sides of Plot/House No.U-469’ was cancelled.

3. Assailing the impugned order, Mr. Gajendra Partap Singh, learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is a resident of Ward No.34. He was thrice e