PMC Corporators Face Legal Battles Over Election Petitions and Illegal Construction Allegations

Twenty-seven of the 165 newly elected representatives of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) are set to face legal battles following the recently held civic polls, as petitions have been filed seeking their disqualification on various grounds, including alleged illegal constructions. In addition, corporators elected from reserved category seats will have to submit their caste verification certificate within three months to avoid disqualification. “There have been election petitions filed against 24 elected representatives of PMC in the Small Cause court. These petitions have been filed by the losing candidates on different reasons demanding the disqualification of the winning candidate,” said an officer from PMC election department. The officer added that most of the corporators facing legal challenges belong to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), though the civic body is yet to receive complete details of all the petition. “We have been informed that there is an election petition filed against 27 winning candidates. The civic election department will be a respondent in these cases,” the officer said. The PMC elections were held on January 15, in which the BJP won 119 of the 165 seats, while the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) secured 27 seats, the Indian National Congress secured 15 seats, NCP(SP) won three and Shiv Sena (UBT) won one seat. According to the PMC legal department, the election petition can be filed within 10 days of declaration of results. “The PMC has so far received summons for 24 election petitions. The details of the cases are being sought to present the stand of the civic body on the case,” said Nisha Chavan, legal officer of PMC. Apart from election petitions, the PMC has also received complaints alleging illegal construction by three corporators. “If it is proved that the corporator has done illegal construction of the building then he would face disqualification and would not be able to contest elections for next six years,” said an officer from the civic building permission department. Meanwhile, Vasant More, a leader of Shiv Sena(UBT), said he has filed election petition against the BJP corporator who defeated him, raising issues of alleged illegal constructions, sale of such properties, and involvement in corrupt practices in recruitment in civic services.