1959 Supreme(Raj) 97

High Court Of Rajasthan
Judgename : I.N.Modi,D.M.Bhandari
DEODUTT SHARMA - Appellant
Versus
ZAHOOR AHMED ZAID - Respondent
Civil Writ Petn. 1 Of 1959
Decided On : 04/24/1959

Headnote:

Whether the adjournment of the meeting by the Senior Vice Chairman without the consent of the house and in the face of very vehement protests from a number of members and even without taking the consent of the house was lawful.

Fact of the Case:

A casual vacancy arose for the chairmanship of the Ajmer Municipal Committee on the 18th October, 1958, when the resignation of Jwalaprasad, the outgoing Chairman, was accepted. A meeting was scheduled to be held both for considering the resignation of Jwalaprasad and for electing a successor to him for the same date, that is. the 18th October, 1958. The resignation of Jwalaprasad was accepted, but the election of the new Chairman was postponed obviously owing to short notice, and it was decided that a further meeting for the said purpose be called within ten days. The Senior Vice Chairman Zahoor Ahmed Zaid acted as chairman pending the filling up of the vacancy. The Senior Vice Chairman did not call any meeting up to the 23rd October, 1958. On the last-mentioned date, as he was absent from the station, the Junior Vice Chairman Lekhraj Thakkar called a meeting for the 24th October, 1958, for the purpose of electing a new chairman. This meeting was cancelled by the Senior Vice Chairman who happened to arrive back in Ajmer before the meeting was actually held. The Senior Vice Chairman also represented the matter to the Collector who under Section 238 of the Ajmer-Merwara Municipalities Regulation (No. VI) of 1925 (hereinafter called the Regulation) cancelled the meeting. Some 17 or 19 members thereafter sent a requisition to the Senior Vice Chairman, respondent No. 1, on the 25th October, 1958, under Section 50 (2) of the Regulation, for summoning the meeting of the Committee for the purpose of electing its chairman. The Senior Vice Chairman Zahoor Ahmed Zaid paid no heed to this. Thereupon, a writ application was filed by six members of the Committee including the Junior Vice Chairman Lekhraj Thakkar in this Court on the 3rd November, 1958, for a writ of mandamus directing the Senior Vice Chairman to call a meeting for the said purpose. It was contended before the Bench before which the case came up for hearing that a casual vacancy in the office of the Chairman was required to be filled up within 15 days of the occurrence of the vacancy under Section 13 (2) of the Regulation, and that it was provided under Sub-section (4) of the said section that where the Committee fails to elect a chairman in the manner required by Sub-section (2), the Government may nominate a chairman. This contention was repelled, and it was held that the Senior Vice Chairman had no valid excuse for not calling the meeting as desired by the Committee by its resolution dated the 18th October, 1958. The learned Judges also held that it could not be said in the circumstances that the Committee had failed to elect a chairman in the manner prescribed by Section 13 (2) of the Regulation. They further held that the Senior Vice Chairman Zahoor Ahmed Zaid had not acted bona fide and that he had deliberately failed to call a meeting of the Committee to elect its new chairman. Finally, the Court granted a mandamus calling upon the Senior Vice Chairman, respondent No. 1, to convene a meeting of the Committee to be held on the 17th December, 1958, at 4 P. M. at the office of the Municipal Committee, and a copy of the order was directed to be sent to the State Government and the Collector. This order was passed on the 10th December, 1958, and is annexure No. 1.

Finding of the Court:

The order of the Minister dated 21-1-1959, is a quasi-judicial order which is vitiated by errors of law which are patent on the face of the record, and, therefore, this order cannot be sustained and has to be set aside. It must also be held on our findings above that the petitioner was duly elected as the Chairman of the Ajmer Municipal Committee at the resumed meeting held on the 17th December, 1958. It must follow from the aforesaid premises that as the petitioner stood already duly elected as Chairman, there was no vacancy left in that office on the 19th December and, therefore, the election of respondent No. 5 Pratapchand Jain as Chairman of the said Committee must fall asunder and cannot be upheld as valid in the eye of law. We hold accordingly.

Issues: 1. Whether the meeting which was held on 17-12-1958 was lawfully adjourned by the Senior Vice Chairman, respondent No. 1. 2. If not whether the subsequent proceeding at which the petitioner was elected as a chairman, after the meeting had been unlawfully adjourned by the Senior Vice Chairman, was a lawful meeting, and the members who took part in it had a right to elect chairman at the same for which purpose the said meeting had been originally convened. 3. Whether the order of the Minister dated 21-1-1959 was an order which he had jurisdiction to make, and in any event, whether the petitioner had submitted to the jurisdiction of the Minister, and, therefore, he cannot challenge it now? 4. Whether the aforesaid order is merely an administrative or ministerial order, and, therefore is not amenable to a writ of certiorari? 5. If our conclusion be that the order of the Minister is of a quasi-judicial nature, does it call for any interference by this court in the extraordinary exercise of its certiorari jurisdiction?

Ratio Decidendi: The adjournment of the meeting by the Senior Vice Chairman without the consent of the house and in the face of very vehement protests from a number of members and even without taking the consent of the house was unlawful.

Final Decision: The order of the Minister dated 21st January, 1959, is quashed and it is held that the petitioner was lawfully elected as the Chairman of the Ajmer Municipal Committee at the resumed meeting held on the 17th December, 1958. The election of respondent No. 5 Pratapchand Jain as Chairman of the said Committee is set aside and he is directed to vacate this office forthwith.