The Bombay High Court has halted further steps to notify nominated corporators in the Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation after petitioners challenged Mayor Ashwini Kamlesh Nikam’s decision to recommend only two of four BJP nominees for the civic body.
A bench of Justices Girish S Kulkarni and Neela K Gokhale directed the Municipal Secretary not to notify or publish the list of nominated councillors until the next hearing. The court also issued notices to the respondents and directed them to file reply affidavits by October 12.
The challenge was filed by BJP leaders Pradeep Ramchandani and district president Rajesh Vadhrya. The petitioners questioned the recommendations made at a Special General Body Meeting of the Ulhasnagar civic body held on October 1. The meeting recommended two of four BJP candidates and five candidates of the Ulhasnagar Shahar Vikas Aghadi, an alliance dominated by the Shiv Sena.
The dispute centres on whether the Mayor had the authority to alter the recommendations made by the Municipal Commissioner under the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations (Qualifications and Appointment of Nominated Councillors) Rules, 2012. The petitioners argued that the Mayor excluded S B Singh and Ramchandani from the BJP list, despite their names having been recommended by the Commissioner.
The court recorded that there appeared to be prima facie substance in the petitioners’ contention over whether the Mayor had the jurisdiction under the 2012 rules to reject nominations and place only two of the four candidates before the civic body. The interim direction prevents the Municipal Secretary from taking further steps under Rule 6, which covers notification and publication of nominated councillors.
The petitioners also alleged that the Commissioner had recommended three candidates from the USVA under Rule 5(1), but that the Mayor placed five USVA names before the house. They further claimed that the meeting was then closed hurriedly after the national anthem.
The legal dispute is part of a longer conflict over nominated corporators in the Ulhasnagar civic body. The issue had previously reached both the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court, which directed that a Special General Body Meeting be convened by October 1. The Mayor’s decision at that meeting has now become the subject of the latest petitions.
The case also highlights the separate political alignments operating at the state and municipal levels: the BJP and Shiv Sena are allies in Maharashtra, while they remain opponents in the Ulhasnagar civic body. The High Court’s interim order keeps the nominated corporator list from being formally notified until the respondents file their replies and the matter is taken up again.
