Four days on, Local Govt Dept still deliberating on Patiala Mayor?s suspension

Ravneet Singh

Tribune News Service

Patiala, November 29

Four days after a general House meeting deemed Patiala Mayor Sanjeev Sharma Bittu suspended, the Local Government Department is still legally deliberating upon the matter. The decision taken by the House in the presence of 59 councillors and three MLAs (ex officio members) was conveyed to the department, but is awaiting approval and notification.

Local Bodies Minister Brahm Mohindra was part of the general body meeting held on Thursday. After the meeting, the minister had stated the Municipal House decided that the sitting Mayor stood suspended after he failed to present a majority and the officiating charge of the Mayor office was allocated to the Senior Deputy Mayor.

A day after the House meeting, the minister said he would not look into the file. “I have asked the department to send the file directly to the CM,” he said.

Meanwhile, officials in the MC said confusion prevailed over the decision. As per the Punjab MC Act, an officer can be removed by a resolution passed by a majority of the total membership of the MC and by majority of not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting in a meeting of the MC in the prescribed manner.

Another official said decision of the House stood correct as Bittu could not present a majority as per the first agenda of the meeting.