A Division Bench of the Bombay High Court at Goa comprising of Justice M.S Sonak and Justice M.S. Jawalkar today admitted the petition filed by Adv. Aires Rodrigues challenging the appointment of Kabir Makhija and Kishore Sastry as nominated Councillors at the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP).
The Court order came after Adv. Aires Rodrigues concluded his arguments submitting that the appointment of Kabir Makhija and Kishore Sastry as nominated Councillors was in total breach and violation of law as they did not possess the required special knowledge and experience in Municipal Administration.
While directing that the final hearing of the petition be expedited the Court in its order recorded the statement of Senior Advocate Subodh Kantak appearing for the CCP that the monthly honorarium of Rs 10,800 will not be paid to Kishore Sastry. Kabir Makhija has already refunded to the CCP the honorarium paid to him,
Adv. Rodrigues today pointed out to the Court that while Kishore Sastry in his biodata had stated that his educational qualification was I.T.I in Electricals besides a municipal councilor for one term, that Kabir Makhija had stated that besides a diploma in Civil Engineering he is a Sportsman and did modeling at various events including the Lakme Fashion Week while also being a Councillor for one term.
Adv. Rodrigues also drew the Court’s attention that Kishor Sastry had lost the CCP elections held in March this year while Kabir Makhija’s ward having been reserved for women was contested by his sister who was also defeated.
Adv. Aires Rodrigues in his petition has also challenged the very validity of Section 9 (1) (b) of the CCP Act which makes a provision to nominate up to five Councillors having special knowledge or experience in municipal administration, engineering, architecture, archaeology, heritage etc, while drawing the attention of the High Court that this provision was violative of Article 243R of the Constitution of India which enables a non-elected member to be given a representation in a Municipality only if having special knowledge or experience in Municipal Administration.
