UJJAL BHUYAN, J

By way of this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India filed as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), petitioners have assailed the legality and validity of resolution Nos. 12 and 13 adopted in the general meeting of the Tezpur Municipal Board dated 12-04-2007 (Annexure-2 to the petition) as well as the consequential lease deed No. 614 of 2007 registered on 17-04-2007 between respondent No.11 and Tezpur Municipal Board and lease deed No. 615 of 2007 registered on 17-04-2007 between respondent No.10 and Tezpur Municipal Board.

2. Case of the petitioners may be briefly noted.

3. The three petitioners claim to be public spirited citizens of Tezpur concerned with the activities of Tezpur Municipal Board and welfare of the public. Petitioner Nos. 1 and 3 are lawyers being members of Tezpur Bar Association, the former being a member of the Bar Council. Petitioner No.2 is a retired professor of Tezpur College and after retirement, is connected with various public activities.

4. Tezpur town in the State of Assam has a Municipality known as Tezpur Municipal Board (Board hereafter) which was established in the year 1894. The impugned resolutions were adopted by the Board which was constituted on 27-01-2004.

5. Office of the Board issued a notice on 07-04-2007 inviting its members for a general meeting on 12-04-2007. In the general meeting held on 12-04-2007 the two impugned resolutions were adopted. The resolutions read as under :-

“Resolution No.12: The meeting held a discussion on the prayer for 99 years lease made by Badan Ch. Lahkar on 03-12-2005 in respect of lease of Room Nos. 291(Ka) on the bank of Dhubi Pukhuri. Member Prabin Patowari suggested that the matter should be discussed with a lawyer and sent to the sub-committee once again. Member Tapan Ganguly agreed in favour of allotment in view of gains to be achieved by the municipality. Chairperson Kusum Mech, Vice-Chairman Allauddin Ahmed, members Sohrabuddin Hazarika, Sarat Das, Prashanta Das, Bhairab Das and Smti. Pushpa Barthakur endorsed Tapan Ganguly’s views. Vice-Chairman Alauddin Ahmed informed the meeting that after the lease settlement, any adjustment of the cost of construction of the rooms or the cost being borne by the Municipality shall render the furniture be treated as Municipal properties. The members unanimously endorsed that view.

Following detailed deliberation on the matter, the one-time lease premium was fixed at Rs.1,25,000/- while the annual rent was fixed at Rs.11,000/-. It was also resolved that the rent would be raised @ 10% in each block of ten years.

Member Pratul Mahanta reiterated his objection to the leasing out of municipal land. Member Prabin Patowary, Gama Saikia, Smti. Shubha Bhattacharya and Smti. Puspa Deka supported him. Supported by the majority members, the meeting decided to lease out the said land to Badan Ch. Lahkar for 99 years.

Resolution No.13: The Chairperson intimated the members of the lease petition by Dipak Tibrewalla in respect of the land in front of Anowar Cinema Hall for the purpose of development. Member Gama Saikia regretted the fact that such proposals should be received by the Municipality and that the Municipality failed miserably to take up a developmental project on its own land. Members Prabin Patowary and Pratul Mahanta suggested that the Municipality should set up some project on the said land on its own so as to augment its revenue collection. On the other hand, Chairperson Kusum Mech, Vice-Chairman Alauddin Ahmed, members Tapan Ganguly, Sahrabuddin Hazarika, Bhaskar Jyoti Lahkar, Sarat Das, Prashanta Das, Bhairab Das and Smti. Puspa Borthakur all suggested that the prayer of Dipak Tibrewalla should be accepted for the development of the space. The meeting also discussed the petition of Raj Baishya, an Ex-ULFA man requesting lease of the cycle stand area for business purpose. Members Prabin Patowary and Gama Saikia condemned the chaos created by these petitioners in the Municip