Indian Express 09.11.2010
Panchkula civic body becomes council again
Express News Service Tags : Punjab and Haryana High Court, Ravinder Rawal Posted: Tue Nov 09 2010, 00:49 hrs
Panchkula : After the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed the corporation status of Panchkula, it has become Municipal Council again. Based on the High Court’s verdict, the Haryana government yesterday had designated the city magistrate to exercise the powers of Municipal Council’s president. As the MC President’s election is under litigation in the High Court, the City Magistrate shall function as the MC president, till the final verdict in this regard is passed. The city magistrate will also act as the administrator of the Kalka Municipal Committee, till further orders.Also, the concept of municipal councillors have been restored in the Panchkula, who will have a tenure of around two years, before the next election. The councillors are expecting a fresh meeting of the council in the coming week to discuss the further course of action.
Confirming the development, a senior official said, “As the post of MC president is under litigation, the Magistrate had to be given this important charge. Under such disputes, the Magistrate acts as the President.” Councillor Ravinder Rawal says that without councillors, the residents had no one to turn to for taking up their complaints. “While the notification for formation of a corporation had been done, elections would have taken more than two years. Without an elected body the residents did not know who to turn to. We would soon be meeting the president and convene a meeting,” he says.
The councillors also feel that the development of Panchkula would have been affected if the adjoining villages as well as Kalka were to be made a part of the corporation.
