ORDER :

Munishwar Nath Bhandari, J.

By this writ petition, challenge is made to G.O.(Ms) No.10 dated 17.01.2022 to reserve the post of Mayor for different Municipal Corporations. The petitioner has made challenge to the reservation of the post of Mayor for Avadi Municipal Corporation.

2. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the reservation to the wards of Municipal Corporation and the post Chairperson has to be provided as mandated by Article 243-T of the Constitution of India. Making specific reference to Article 243-T(4), he submits that the offices of Chairpersons in the Municipalities shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and women in such manner as the Legislature of a State may, by law, provide. He submits that to provide reservation to the post of Chairpersons in the Municipalities, no legislation was brought by the State and thereby, in the absence of it, reservation to the post of Mayor in question could not have been provided under the Tamil Nadu Town Panchayats, Municipalities and Corporations (Delimitation of Wards or Divisions and Reservation) Rules, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as 'Rules of 1996'). The Rules are framed in the administrative side thus cannot considered to be the legislation of the State. Thereby, unless there is a provision under the Act legislated by the State, reservation to the office of the Chairperson of the Municipalities could not have been provided by the G.O., under challenge.

3. A reference of the Rules of 1996 was elaborately given. The respondents have issued the notification by referring to the Rules of 1996 to provide reservation to the post of Mayor of the Avadi Municipal Corporation. Therefore, the learned counsel for the petitioner submits that, in view of the fact that the Rules of 1996 could not have been given effect in absence of an Act in consonance to Article 243-T(4), the notification issued by the respondents deserves to be set aside.

4. The writ petition has been contested by the learned Advocate General appearing for the State of Tamil Nadu and even by the learned Standing Counsel appearing for the Corporation. It is submitted that the notification under challenge has been issued in consonance to the provisions of the Act as well as the Rules, however ignoring the provisions of the Act of 1994 referred in the notification, challenge is made only in reference to the Rules of 1996. Thus, the writ petition has been framed as if the notification has been issued only in reference to the Rules of 1996 without a provision for reservation under the Act as envisaged by the Constitution of India under Article 243-T(4).

5. Learned Advocate General as well as the learned counsel for the respondent Corporation submit that, the Act was amended by the Tamil Nadu Municipal Corporation Laws (Amendment and Special Provisions) Act, 1994 (hereinafter referred to as 'Act of 1994'). A reference of the said Act has been given in the impugned notification, but ignored conveniently by the petitioner, challenging the notification. Referring to Section 121 of the Amending Act of 1994, he submits that the provision exists for reservation for the post of Mayor, which is the nomenclature used for the post of Chairperson. Section 121 not only provides for reservation for the post of Mayor, but also provides as to how the reservation for the said post has to be given. Section 121 was subsequently amended and as per the amended provision, the reservation to the post of Mayor (Chairperson) is to be provided on the population of the different categories like Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes arranging in descending order. The reservation therein is to apply for a period of ten years ie., to operate for two terms and thereupon to be rotated. Referring to the proviso under Rule 5 of the Rules of 1996 it is submitted that, if no election is held for the post of Chairperson or no elections are held for the Municipal Corporation, then the subsequent election would be conducted