The high court on Wednesday quashed a notification issued by the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation’s joint commissioner to convene a meeting of the councillors to move a no-confidence motion against mayor Sabyasachi Dutta.
Justice Samapti Chatterjee, who issued the order, however, gave liberty to Krishna Chakraborty, the chairperson of the civic body, to issue a fresh notice in two days “in accordance with law” to convene the meeting.
The joint commissioner’s notification said the meeting would be held on Thursday. The high court order makes it impossible to convene the meeting that day and move the no-trust motion against Dutta, who was removed from the mayor’s post by the Trinamul leadership as he was believed to be cosying up to the BJP.
The verdict followed a petition by Dutta who had challenged the legality of the July 9 notification.
Former Calcutta mayor and lawyer Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, who appeared for Dutta, submitted that the July 9 notification should be considered invalid because it had been issued by the joint commissioner.
He submitted that only the chairperson of the corporation had the right to issue a notification convening a meeting of the board of councillors for moving a no-confidence motion.
“We have no objection if the civic body follows the rules and calls a fresh meeting. But the July 9 notification must be set aside,” Bhattacharyya pleaded with the court.
Advocate general Kishore Dutta, who appeared for the state, and lawyer-cum-Trinamul Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee, who represented the chairperson, opposed Bhattacharyya’s submission, saying the commissioner, and, in his absence, the joint commissioner had the right to issue a notification to call a meeting of the board of councillors.
When asked whether the government would move an appeal against Wednesday’s order, an official in the state law department said they would take a decision after going through a copy of the order.
Trinamul had decided to remove Dutta from the post of mayor two days after he criticised the Trinamul government at a rally in Salt Lake. Since Dutta did not resign, the party decided to move a no-trust motion against him.
Accordingly, some councillors, under the leadership of deputy mayor Tapas Chatterjee, submitted a request to the chairperson to call a meeting of all councillors for moving a no-confidence motion against Dutta.
Chakraborty forwarded the request to joint commissioner Surajit Ghosh. The joint commissioner then issued the notification on July 18.
“I have always abided by the law of the land. I will abide by Calcutta High Court’s verdict. The mayor’s post is an elected post,” Dutta told Metro.
Naihati hearing
The hearing of a petition moved by 18 councillors of Naihati Municipality challenging the state government’s decision to appoint an administrator to run the civic body allegedly to avoid a no-confidence motion against the chairman, concluded in the court of Justice Samapti Chatterjee on Wednesday. The judge adjourned the verdict.
Bongaon case
The state BJP on Wednesday mentioned before Justice Samapti Chatterjee that even after her order, the chairman of the Bongaon Municipality did not allow some councillors belonging to their party to take part in the no-confidence motion against him. The party prayed for allowing it to file an application to bring the issue before the court. Justice Chatterjee allowed the prayer.