KMC Administrator should work under a Caretaker Board’ for a month, says High Court

Kolkata,08 May(HS): In a verdict with possibly far-reaching consequences, the Calcutta High Court has directed the new Administrator of Kolkata Municipal Corporation(KMC) to continue as the ‘Chairman’ of only a ‘Caretaker Board’ for the next one month when a final hearing about its legality would be taken up once again.

Taking up a private Interest Litigation(PIL), filed by an individual, on an urgent basis through video Conferencing with several lawyers, Justice Subrata Talukdar after hearing the one-sided views of the pleader and his lawyer, in absence of any representative from the state government,  passed an interim order asking the new  Board at KMC and working under the new Administrator Firhad Hakim, also the Mayor of the city and State Urban Development minister, to run the office only as a ‘Caretaker Board’ for the time being and till the next hearing next month, possibly after the lifting of the lockdown.

Earlier protesting against the state government’s order on 6 May appointing city Mayor as the first Administrator of the city’s main Civic body, one person filed a PIL in the High Court seeking an immediate clarification. As a result, the Court took up the hearing despite the absence of any state government representative before passing the interim order.

Earlier this week and for the first time in the long history of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) an ‘Administrator’ was appointed by the state government to run its day to day administration from today following the expiry of the five year term of the present Mayor and all other Councillors under him only yesterday.

Meanwhile, according to sources at Nabanna, the state headquarters, the government had no other option but to resort to this measure in the wake of the postponement of the scheduled elections of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and all other Municipalities in the state in view of the outbreak of  COVID-19 pandemic and the present extraordinary situation in the state.

Before the onset of the present pandemic situation, the state government had recommended to the state Election Commission expressing its desire to hold elections to all 141 wards under KMC  in mid-April before holding similar elections to all  95 other Municipatieis in the state by the end of that month.

But because of the outbreak of Coronavirus all programmes had to be postponed indefinitely with no hope of holding the same at least for several more months.

However Governor Jagdeep Dhankar has expressed his strong reservations at the state government’ unilateral decision to appoint Mayor Firhad Hakim as the new Administrator of KMC, and that too without informing him as the Constitutional head of the state demanded an immediate explanation from the state Chief Secretary as well as from the Chief minister.

However, there is also no response from the government so far causing huge dismay among the common people of the state.