Ernakulam: The High Court has issued a stay order on the motion scheduled for presentation during today’s Kozhikode Corporation Council meeting, which sought the Central Government’s withdrawal from the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code. The court has instructed the withdrawal of the CPM resolution and highlighted that such resolutions violate municipal rules.
The CPM members had included the resolution to be presented during the Kozhikode Corporation council meeting. However, the BJP councillor objected to the motion, issuing a notice to the mayor and secretary, urging them not to permit its presentation. The reason cited was that the resolution did not pertain to matters within the corporation’s jurisdiction and violated the Kerala Municipality rules. Despite the objection, the ruling CPM Corporation proceeded with allowing the resolution to be presented, leading to the matter being taken to the High Court.
The court has effectively halted agenda no. 137 scheduled for the 3 pm council meeting today. The petitioner invoked sub-rule 4 of the Kerala Municipality Meeting Rule 18, to request the stoppage of the resolution’s presentation. The court ruled in favour of the petitioner’s argument, affirming that only administrative matters concerning local self-governing bodies are permissible as resolutions in council meetings.
The BJP councilor emphasized that the Corporation Council does not have the constitutional authority to pass resolutions against Central Government laws, and introducing counter-resolutions on constitutional matters constitutes a legal violation.
It was T. Muraleedharan, the CPM Councilor of Edakkad Division in Kozhikode Corporation, who issued a notice to present the resolution. Notably, the High Court had previously intervened in 2022 to prevent the CPM from proposing a resolution against the NITI Aayog during a Corporation Council meeting.
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