Aug 24 2016 : The Times of India (Ahmedabad)

Three district panchayats have moved Gujarat high court opposing the powers given to urban area authorities to draft development plans.The district panchayats have demanded that these powers be delegated instead to the District Planning Committees (DPCs) and Metropolitan Planning Committees (MCPs).

There are no active DPCs and MPCs in Gujarat, something that has been criticized by the CAG in its latest report. The three district panchayats -Gandhinagar, Bharuch and Jamnagar -are all governed by the Congress.

They have moved the Gujarat high court demanding that, under the provisions of the Town Planning Act, the concerned urban development authorities be divested of the power to prepare draft development plans for these areas.

Further, the petitioners have demanded immediate formation of DPCs and MPCs through elections, and delegation of powers to draft and execute development plans through them.

The petitioners’ advocate Anand Yagnik said that a bench of Justice M R Shah and Justice A S Supehia issued notice to the advocate general and shall hear the matter on August 30.

Till now, the number of villages to be included within urban limits was entirely a discretion of the concerned urban area authority which drafted the TP schemes. The BJP has controlled most of the urban civic bodies in Gujarat for the past few terms. the past few terms.

Now, on gaining power in the district panchayats after routing the BJP in the rural areas in the local body elections last year, the Congress is challenging the powers of urban area development authorities such as Gandhinagar Urban Area Development Authority and Bharuch-Ankleshwar Urban Area Development Authority to prepare TP schemes.

The petitioner pan chayats have questioned the constitutional validity of sections 9, 11, 13, 22 and 23 of the Gujarat Town Planning and Urban Development Act. They have contended that the draft development plans made by these authorities are absolutely without power and jurisdiction.

This is because the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments made in 199293, enshrine responsibility for planning and development of DPCs in rural areas under Article 243ZD and in urban areas under Article 243ZE of the Constitution.

The petitioners have further contended that under Article 243ZF of the Constitution, all municipal and other laws inconsistent with the constitutional amendment expired one year after its passing.

All powers for planning and development are vested in elected civic bodies, DPCs and Metropolitan Planning Committees (MPCs), according to Gujarat’s planning Acts brought into force in 2008.

The petitioners have further claimed that sections 22 and 23 of the TP Act take away the autonomy of panchayati raj institutions. As these sections deprive democratic institutions of power given by the Constitution, they should be scrapped. The petitioners maintained that the power for planning in the entire district now lies with DPCs and MPCs, which should be elected bodies.