Sandeep Pandurang Patil v. The State Of Maharashtra Thr Principal Secretary And ORS
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION NO.8 OF 2026 Sandeep Pandurang Patil .. Petitioner Vs.
The State of Maharashtra, Through Urban Development Dept. & Ors.
.. Respondents Mr. D.S. Mhaispurkar with Mr. H.S. Pawaskar, Mr. S.M. Modak and Mr. A.S. Patil, Advocates for the Petitioner. Mrs. Neha S. Bhide, Government Pleader with Mrs. Shruti D. Vyas, Additional Government Pleader and Mr. S.H. Kankal, Assistant Government Pleader for Respondent No.1. Mr. Sandeep D. Shinde, Advocate for Respondent No.3-KDMC. CORAM : SHREE CHANDRASHEKHAR, CJ. & GAUTAM A. ANKHAD, J.
DATE : 2ND FEBRUARY 2026.
P.C. :
Seeking quashing of all the amendments made by the State Government to section 5(3) of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act, 1949 after the Maharashtra Act No.41 of 1994 was amended, the petitioner claims that the amendments so made by the Maharashtra Act No.41 of 1994 are in violation of the main provisions of the said Act.
2.
Mr. D.S. Mhaispurkar, the learned counsel for the petitioner states that this Public Interest Litigation is concerning the rights of the electorates. The act and omission on the part of the Government of Maharashtra in not increasing the number of elected councillors, though there has been significant increase in population, have seriously affected the democratic rights of the 1/4
electorate. After having gone through the order dated 6th May 2022 in Public Interest Litigation No.6 of 2022 and the order passed in the Special Leave to Appeal (Civil) No.19756 of 2021 with Writ Petition (Civil) No.234 of 2022, we hold that the filing of this Public Interest Litigation is an abuse of the process of the Court and the petitioner is liable to be saddled with exemplary costs. 3.
The petitioner who is a resident and a registered voter within the territorial limits of the Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation, along with other citizens claims to be affected by any enactment reducing the number of Councillors, alteration in the ward structure, delimitation or system of representation having a direct and substantial impact on their fundamental right to participate in free, fair and transparent elections as guaranteed under Articles 14 and 243-U of the Constitution of India. The petitioner also seeks to quash and set aside the Maharashtra Act No.XLIII of 2022 and the Maharashtra Act No.XXIII of 2024. 4.
The Maharashtra Act No.41 of 1994 amended the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act, 1949 wherein the powers of the State Government as contemplated in section 5(3) of the said Act to decide the number of boundaries of the wards along with the number of Councillors from each ward were conferred upon the State Election Commissioner. Thereafter, by virtue of amendment to section 5(3) of the said Act through the Maharashtra Act XXI of 2022, the power of delimitation earlier vested exclusively in the State Election Commissioner was sought to be made exercisable by the State Government with the approval of the State Election Commissioner. Subsequently, the State Government amended the proviso to section 5(3) of the said Act through the Maharashtra Act No.XXIII of 2024 introducing as far as possible four Councillors but not less than three and not more 2/4
than five Councillors. By virtue of the Maharashtra Act No.XLIII of 2022, the State Government amended the table of clause (a) of sub-section (2) of section 5 of the said Act thereby reducing the number of elected Councillors and wards. The grievance of the petitioner is that once the State Government by virtue of the Maharashtra Act No.41 of 1994 divested itself of the power under section 5(3) and vested the same exclusively in the State Election Commissioner, it ceased to have the authority to exercise such power. Consequently, any subsequent amendment made by the State Government to section 5(3) of the said Act is de hors its legislative competence and is therefore liable to be set aside. 5.
The petitioner filed a Public Interest Litigation No.6 of 2022 before the Hon'ble High Court challenging Maharashtra Act No.IX of 2017, Maharashtra Ordinance No.IV of 2021 and Maharashtra Act No.I of 2022 on issues concerning multi-member wards and the State Government's powers of delimitation. The said petition was disposed of by order dated 6th September 2022. Thereafter, the petitioner preferred Special Leave Petition No.13122 of 2022 before the Hon'ble Supreme Court on 14th July 2022 which was also disposed of on 5th September 2022. Subsequently, the petitioner filed a Review Petition on 10th October 2022 which came to be dismissed on 28th March 2023. The petitioner also filed a Curative Petition (C) No.000272 of 2025 which is presently pending.
6.
A challenge to the various provisions of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888, Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act, 1949 and Maharashtra Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats and Industrial Township (Amendment) Act, 2022 along with Maharashtra Village Panchayats Act, 1959 and Maharashtra Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis (Amendment) 3/4
Act 2022, and Mumbai Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022 is pending before the Hon'ble Supreme Court. In the previous proceedings, a batch of writ petitions including Public Interest Litigation No.6 of 2022 filed by the petitioner raising a similar issue of election of one Councillor/Corporator for one Municipal Ward of a Corporation was examined by this Court and the challenge to the amendment to proviso to section 5(3) of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act was dismissed. The order passed by this Court in the aforesaid proceedings was affirmed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in a Special Leave Petition (Civil) no.13122 of 2022 and Review Petition (Civil) No.390 of 2023 has been dismissed.
7.
This Public Interest Litigation is dismissed with cost of Rs.1,00,000/- to be deposited with "THE HIGH COURT EMPLOYEES MEDICAL WELFARE FUND AT MUMBAI" within a period of four weeks from today. The bank account details are as under:
Bank Name :
Bank of India Branch :
Mumbai Main Account No.
:
000120110001337 IFSC Code :
BKID0000001 8.
List the matter on 4th March 2026 for reporting compliance. [ GAUTAM A. ANKHAD, J. ] [ CHIEF JUSTICE ] Digitally signed by SNEHA ABHAY DIXIT Date:
2026.02.06 13:52:42 +0530 4/4 SNEHA ABHAY DIXIT