LI Network
Published on: October 15, 2023 at 16:43 IST
The Bombay High Court has rejected the writ petition filed by Shiv Sena MLA Ravindra Dattaram Waikar, who alleged discriminatory allocation of funds by the State Government, stating that the Doctrine of Wednesbury Unreasonableness could not be effectively applied in this case.
Waikar, elected in 2019, had raised concerns about the unequal allocation of government funds for the development of infrastructure and civic amenities in slums in various constituencies.
A Division Bench of Justice Sunil B. Shukre and Justice Rajesh S. Patil ruled that the judicial review of such administrative functions could only be done by applying the Doctrine of Wednesbury unreasonableness.
The Court highlighted that decisions regarding the allocation of funds for various works in different localities are administrative functions guided by state policy. To challenge the reasonableness and fairness of such decisions, sufficient material must be presented to the Court for comparative analysis.
The petitioner claimed that funds allocated for developmental works in slums in constituencies represented by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were significantly higher than the funds allocated for his constituency, alleging arbitrariness and discrimination. He sought an equal allocation of funds for the development of slums in his constituency.
The High Court, after examining the documents and submissions, found that the allocation of funds by the State Government was reasonably correlated with the number of sanctioned works and did not show arbitrariness or impermissible discrimination.
The Court held that without sufficient material for comparison between different areas, it was not possible to examine the fairness and transparency of fund allocation.
Therefore, the High Court dismissed the petition, keeping open the larger issue of how state funds should be allocated to members of legislative assemblies and legislative councils while considering fairness and transparency.
Case Title: Ravindra Dattaram Waikar v. The State of Maharashtra & Ors.