NASHIK, May 16: The Standing Committee of the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) is in a fix over a litigation on the election of BJP's Balasaheb Aher (brother of State Health Minister Dr Daulatrao Aher) as its chairman.Elections to the committee were held on April 17.

Soon after this, a Congress supported independent contender for the chairman's post, J T Shinde, moved the court, objecting to his defeat, on the basis of an invalid ballot paper.

Shinde obtained an interim stay on the committee meeting to be held on April 25, to elect its chairman. Senior civil judge A P Ingale had granted the stay on April 24. However, hours after Shinde obtained the stay, some BJP corporators obtained a stay from additional sessions judge Subhash Deshmukh, clearing the way for the committee's meeting to elect its chairman.

Subsequently, the committee elected Balasaheb Aher as its chairman on April 25, with Congress members boycotting the meeting.

The gesture of judge Deshmukh irked the Nashik Bar Association, which resolved to boycott Deshmukh's court and demanded an inquiry against him. Deshmukh was then transferred.

Earlier this week, judge S D Mohod, declared Deshmukh's stay orders as null and void on grounds of violation of jurisdiction and directed the complainants to approach the high court. The court, however, was silent on the legal standing of the committee. The latest court decision has cast a shadow on the future of Aher as the chairman.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.