JUDGMENT :

The petitioner is an Ex. Councillor of Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation. Respondent No.5 is the Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. Respondent No.6 is the Councillor elected from Medical College Ward Constituency of the Corporation. Respondent Nos.1 to 4 are official respondents.

FACTS

2. The petitioner has come across information from the media that respondent Nos.5 and 6 had requested the District Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], the ruling political party, to provide the list of party members for appointment to various posts in the Health Division of the Municipal Corporation. The petitioner found copies of the letters sent by respondent Nos.5 and 6 on their official letterheads in the media. In the copy of the letter (Ext.P1) addressed to the District Secretary of the CPI(M), respondent No.5 had requested to take necessary steps to make available the priority list of candidates to be appointed in the Health Division of Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation on contract basis. In Ext.P2 letter respondent No.6 had made a similar request to the Party Secretary.

2.1. The petitioner alleges that it is the usual practice of the Corpo