G.C. Mathur, J. - (1.) Sec. 9 of the U.P. Municipalities Act, 1916 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) lays down that the normal composition of a municipal board shall be a President and elected members who shall be not less than 10 and not more than 40 as may be notified by the State Government in the official Gazette. Sec. 10 empowers the State Government to vary the normal composition by declaring by notification that a municipal board shall be constituted of nominated members, elected members and a President. The Municipal Board of Naini Tal has throughout been constituted under Sec. 10. Under a notification dated November 29, 1963 (Annexure VI to the counter-affidavit) filed by the Municipal Board) as corrected by the notification dated December 2, 1964 (Annexure VII to the same counter-affidavit), the Municipal Board of Naini Tal was to consist of a President, four nominated members and 11 elected members (out of whom two were to be of the scheduled castes).
(2.) On May 30, 1971, elections for the Municipal Board of Naini Tal took place and 11 persons were declared elected. On June 7, 1971, the State Government nominated four per-sons to the Board. By a notification published in the U.P. Gazette dated June 8, 1971, the election of the President was fixed for June 22, 1971, Writ Petition No. 4032 of 1971 was then filed on June 17, 1971, by an elected member of the Board and by an elector, challenging the nomination of the four members. An interim order was passed by this Court, directing that the election of the President may take place but that the result shall not be declared. This writ petition was admitted on July 27, 1971, but, on that date the interim order was vacated. On July 29, 1971, Sri Kishan Singh Taragi was declared elected President of the Board. Thereafter the State Government published a notification in the U. P. Gazette (Extra-ordinary) dated August 4, 1971, that the Municipal Board of Naini Tal has been constituted. Thereupon another elected member of the Board, who had. opposed Sri Taragi in the election for presidentship and had lost, filed Writ Petition No. 5174 of 1971, challenging the election of Sri Taragi on the ground that the nomination of the four members to the Board by the State Government was illegal and that, 'consequently the election of the President in which these four persons took part, was also illegal. Thus, in both the writ petitions, the validity of the nomination of the four members to the Board by the State Government is challenged.
(3.) The validity of the nomination of the four members is challenged on the ground that Sec. 10 of the Act, under which the nominations have been made, offends Art. 14 of the Constitution as it confers as unguided and arbitrary power on the State Government to declare that a municipal board shall not have the normal composition of elected members only as set down in Sec. 9 but shall have a composition of elected as well as nominated members under Sec. 10. It is further urged that Sec. 10(b) makes an excessive delegation of legislative power and is invalid on that account.;