Suraj Parmar suicide case: Relief for corporators facing disqualification

[A vacation bench of Justice Bhushan Gavai and Justice Burgess Colabawalla questioned how the corporators could be disqualified unless they were convicted and held guilty by a competent court.]

In a relief for the Thane corporators facing trial for abetting the suicide of builder Suraj Parmar, the Bombay high court in an interim order stayed the state government's notices to disqualify them from the Thane Municipal Corporation(TMC).

A vacation bench of Justice Bhushan Gavai and Justice Burgess Colabawalla questioned how the corporators could be disqualified unless they were convicted and held guilty by a competent court.

Thane-based builder Parmar had shot himself at his under-construction building on October 7, 2015. He had left behind a 13-page suicide note, in which he blamed harassment by corporators, municipal corporation officers and the changing policies of the government for driving him to commit suicide. The corporators named in the suicide note—Vikrant Chavan of the Congress, Najib Mulla and Hanumant Jagdale of the NCP, and Sudhakar Chavan, an Independent, surrendered to the police after the HC rejected their plea for anticipatory bail in December 2015. They were released on bail on February 2016 and the police filed chargesheet in the case.

A month later in March, the state government issued show-cause notices under Section 13 of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act asking the corporators to explain why they should not be disqualified from the TMC on account of the criminal case registered against them. The provision empowers the government to remove a corporator if he is found guilty of any misconduct.

"The notices are a result of political vendetta and vengeance," said advocate Shardul Singh, counsel for two of the corporators—Jagdale and Mulla, who had approached the high court.

"In the present case, investigation is still in progress, charges yet to be framed, let alone trial having commenced. Until and unless a trial court convicts them, it cannot be said that the corporators are guilty of anything that has been alleged against them," added advocate Singh. The corporators said that the notices were arbitrary and unlawful as it asks them to disclose their defence in the case. The high court has scheduled further hearing of the case on June 20, 2016.