RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, Sept.10: Ranchi Mayor Asha Lakra will challenge the legal opinion of the advocate general (AG) in the Jharkhand High Court.
Lakra told this to newspersons terming the legal opinion a ‘personal opinion’ of the AG. She termed the opinion a ‘murder of democracy and constitutional rights’ and maintained that one cannot change the law while giving an opinion.
She said Jharkhand Municipal Act 2011 is supreme for her and Ranchi Municipal Corporation will be run in accordance with the Act.
Expressing her disagreement with the opinion, Lakra said that under sections 74, 75, 76 and 78 of the said Act she has every right to convene a meeting and fix the time of the meeting. She said under section 73 of the Act she can also call an emergency meeting on the request of one-fifth of the total number of councillors.
Mayor Lakra that subsections 6 and 7 of section 77 of the Act provides disposal of any agenda only with the permission of the Mayor.
The Mayor said that the opinion is an effort to pave the path of corruption by making the municipal bodies defunct and she will challenge the matter in the high court.
Advocate general Rajeev Ranjan in response to a letter from the urban development department seeking legal opinion related to the power of Mayor has given the opinion that an ordinary meeting is to be convened by the municipal secretary.
The AG had opined that the municipal commissioner, special officer have been given a pivotal role in the Municipal Act. Apart from this, he also opined that the municipal commissioner had been assigned several duties and powers in the functioning and administration of the corporation. He opined that proceedings are to be prepared by the municipal secretary.
The AG had opined that the Mayor has no role in formulating the list of businesses to be transacted at the councillors’s meeting. Apart from this, he had given several opinions which suggested the mayor is just a showpiece in the municipal body.
Mayor Lakra took strong exception to this opinion saying that she is a directly elected representative of people, not a showpiece.
