The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Municipal council meeting held under judge’s supervision

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Thursday, Jul 24, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Municipal council meeting held under judge’s supervision

— Photo: S. James

Virudhunagar Principal District and Sessions Judge V. Balasundarakumar coming out after supervising the meeting of the municipal council at Rajapalayam on Wednesday.

RAJAPALAYAM: A special meeting of the Rajapalayam municipal council was held under the supervision of Virudhunagar Principal District and Sessions Judge V. Balasundarakumar to discuss a show cause notice issued by the government seeking explanation whether the council could be dissolved owing to its non-functioning here on Wednesday.

At the end of the 40-minute closed-door meeting, held under tight security, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam members emerged victorious, with a majority of the councillors favouring continuance of the council. “Twenty four out of 42 councillors have supported us. This is a big victory for justice,” said council vice-chairman S.A. Manikanda Raja.

Earlier, Congress members, including Chairperson R. Rathinammal and former vice-president A.A. Subbaraja came out of the hall after submitting a written statement favouring dissolution of the council. Party councillor Beema Raja said, “We have submitted all photographs showing unruly scenes that happened during previous council meetings to the observers.”

Simmering differences between the AIADMK and the Congress led to the defeat of Mr. Subbaraja, the then vice-chairman, in a no-confidence motion. Later, he was disqualified for not attending three consecutive council meetings. Subsequently, Mr. Manikanda Raja got elected as the Vice-Chairman. The stalemate continued and the council meetings could not be conducted since October 2007. Meanwhile, Mr. Subbaraja got re-elected as a councillor. The Secretary of Municipal Administration, K. Deenabandu, sent a show cause notice to the council in May 2008 seeking explanation for it non-performance according to the established norms that obstructed implementation of various welfare schemes. Among the important issues that could not be taken up was the annual municipal budget for 2008-09, auctioning of municipal facilities and property tax reformation.

Besides, 67 works worth Rs. 185.20 lakh were left pending and tenders for development works to the tune of Rs. 174 lakh could not be processed. Mr. Manikanda Raja had sought the High Court’s intervention that directed the Principal District Judge to supervise the council meeting to discuss the show cause notice.

Municipal Commissioner N. Mony and Regional Director of Municipal Administration S. Jeyaraman, were present. A report on the meeting would be sent to the government for further action, Mr. Mony said.

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