Jammu, Dec 28:
High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has held that terms of President and Vice-President of the Municipalities will be from the date of first meeting.
The judgment has been passed in a petition filed by Presidents of the Municipal Committees/ Councils in district Poonch and Rajouri claiming that their terms of office are to be reckoned to have started from the dates their election as President came to be notified under Section 27 of the Act and they entered the office upon being administered with oath, and, therefore, from that date onwards, the term of five years of the Presidentship of Municipal Committees/ Councils are to be counted which cannot be prematurely ended.
After hearing Senior Advocate Abhinav Sharma for the petitioners whereas Advocate General DC Raina for the UT, Justice Rahul Bharti observed, “it is by the conjoint reading and understanding of the Section 23 with Section 27, the petitioners have fallen under a misconception that they became President of the respective Municipal Committees/Councilc only upon taking oath and entering their office, and, therefore, the first meeting of Municipality which came to be held after their entering upon office as President shall be the starting date of five years for the duration of their respective Municipality to last. This understanding of the petitioners is misconceived and misplaced”.
High Court further said that although the Act provides under Sections 28, 29, 30 & 31 for ordinary and special meeting, timing and holding of two kinds of meeting, quorum for the meeting, and chairmanship of the meeting, but the word “first meeting” obtaining in Section 14 as well as in Section 13 in relation to duration of municipality and in term of office term of the members is the one from where the petitioners have drawn their conclusion and conviction that it is only upon the election as President, getting notified under Section 27 of the Municipal Act attending with oath taking, that first ordinary meeting of the Municipal Committee which took place was to set start the term of their respective municipality and their term of office simultaneously.
Justice Rahul Bharti observed, “when the petitioners came to be elected as President of their respective municipal Committees/Councilc the duration of the respective municipality for five years is to be counted for its termination date and the petitioners cannot out stay five years of tenure”, adding “with respect to each municipality in reference in the present case, the date of election of the petitioners as presidents of respective municipalities is to be read and reckoned as first meeting of the municipality and five years term to be counted there from so as to coincide with the term of office of the petitioners as president for five years with term of five years their respective municipalities”.