Calcutta High Court on Monday directed the Jhalda Municipal Board to hold a no-confidence motion moved against it by four Congress councillors on November 21 and not Monday.
Justice Amrita Sinha of Calcutta High Court passed the order in response to an appeal filed by vice-chairperson of Trinamul led Jhalda Municipal Board, Sudip Karmakar.
Karmakar had moved court challenging a letter sent to the chairperson of the board by four Congress councillors seeking a vote of no-confidence be held on November 7.
Moving the petition on behalf of Karmakar, his counsel claimed that on October 13 the four councillors had written a letter to chairman of the board seeking trust vote against the party ruling the municipality.
“According to rules, the chairperson should have responded to the plea submitted by Opposition party councillors within 15 days of receiving the letter. As the chairperson did not take any step within the stipulated period, Congress councillors had moved a similar plea with the vice-chairperson of the board on October 28,” the lawyer said.
“According to municipal rules, the vice-chairperson requires seven days to make his decision. Before the expiry of seven days, the vice-chairperson issued a notification saying that the trust vote will be held on November 21. The four councillors issued a notification on November 4 announcing that vote on November 7.”
The counsel claimed that municipal rules permit Opposition councillors to announce the day of trust vote but only if the vice-chairperson failed to take action within seven days.
After hearing the counsel's plea, Justice Sinha rejected the notification issued by Congress councillors and declared that the vote would be held on November 21.
In the 12-member Jhalda municipal board, Trinamul had support of seven councillors. Then, Independent councillor of ward 3, Shila Chattopadhyay, voted in favour of the ruling party. However, Chattopadhyay soon withdrew support and joined hands with Congress councillors. After the February civic poll, Trinamul and Congress had five councillors each, while two wards were won by Independents.
The situation changed after Congress councillor Tapan Kandu was murdered in March before the formation of the board. Down to four, the Congress could not stake a claim to form the board. Taking advantage of the situation, Trinamul, backed by two Independents, formed the board in April. The Congress later won the civic bypoll and has five councillors.
Last month, both the Independent withdrew support from the Trinamul and moved to the Congress.
The changed scenario prompted Opposition councillors to move a no-trust motion against board chairperson Suresh Agarwal.
However, Congress president in Purulia district Nepal Mahato said they had accepted the court order but the seven councillors together would move the high court on Wednesday to challenge the vice-chairperson’s decision to hold a vote on November 21.
"We have information that the present chairperson is trying to create a stalemate during the November 21 meeting by removing the vice-chairperson so that control of the civic body goes to the state government. We will not allow that to happen," said Mahato in Purulia.
Agarwal, however, said the three councillors had unlawfully called the trust vote on November 7 and the court had rejected it.
"The Congress is trying to create unrest in the civic body to grab the board. They are actually trying to disrupt development in Jhalda," said Agarwal.
A police picket has been set-up in front of Jhalda municipality on Monday to avoid any untoward incident and maintain law and order.
Suvendu plea rejected
Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharya of Calcutta High Court on Monday rejected BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s contempt petition against DGP Manoj Malaviya accusing him of not taking action against police officers who had prevented him from entering Nandigram in East Midnapore on January 7.
The judge held that the allegation made by Adhikari against the DG was "not in accordance with law".
