Plea to remove Valparai vice-chairman from post
Madras high court has directed the Coimbatore collector to pass orders on a representation
Chennai: The Madras high court has directed the Coimbatore collector to consider and pass orders on a representation which sought a direction to the authorities to remove M. Mayil Ganesan from the post of vice-chairman of Valparai municipality as he had allegedly suffered disqualification under the provisions of the TN District Municipalities Act. Disposing of a petition from contractor T. Vijaya Rajan, Justice M. Sathyanarayanan said that the court, without going into the merits of the representation, directs the Coimbatore collector to consider the petitioner’s representation dated April 20, 2015 in accordance with law, after giving notice to Mayil Ganesan, pass orders within four weeks and communicate the decision to the petitioner and Mayil Ganesan.
According to Vijaya Rajan, he is a resident of Valparai municipality and a recognised contractor in the municipality. Mayil Ganesan was acting as elected vice-chairman. Though Vijaya Rajan applied for tenders of work, he was not successful and later came to know that most contracts were awarded to Jayaram and Uma Maheswari, the brother and sister-in-law of Mayil Ganesan.
In this regard, he submitted a representation to the authorities, pointing out among other things, that in view of such illegality, Mayil Ganesan should be removed from the post of vice-chairman of Valparai municipality. The elected vice-chairman shall be disqualified in case he acquires any interest in any contract or work being done for the council except as a shareholder, as per section 50 (1) (d) of the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act. Since the representation had not been disposed of, he filed the present petition, he added.