Upgrading Barwala Municipality mid-term may breach law, Legal Expert warns
Babushahi Bureau
Chandigarh, November 2, 2025: Advocate Hemant Kumar, a Punjab and Haryana High Court lawyer and municipal law expert, has raised serious legal objections to the Haryana Government’s move to upgrade Barwala Municipality in Hisar district to a Municipal Council.
The Department of Urban Local Bodies issued a draft notification on October 31, 2025, signed by Commissioner and Secretary Vikas Gupta, proposing to elevate Barwala Municipality to a Municipal Council and inviting public objections and suggestions within 30 days.
Advocate Hemant Kumar stated that while the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973 allows reclassification of urban local bodies based on population, it does not authorize the automatic dissolution of an existing elected municipal body when its status is upgraded.
He pointed out that the Barwala Municipal Committee’s elections were held in June 2022, and the current elected council — including its president and ward members — still has nearly one and a half years of its five-year term left, until July/August 2027.
According to him, “Under Section 12 of the Haryana Municipal Act and Article 243U(1) of the Constitution of India, every elected municipality is entitled to complete its five-year term unless dissolved under specific legal grounds mentioned in Section 254. Upgradation of status is not one of them.”
Hemant Kumar also cited a similar instance from August 2025, when Samalkha Municipality in Panipat district was upgraded to a Municipal Council despite an active elected body.
He warned that the latest move could trigger legal complications, as holding fresh elections for the upgraded councils within a year would curtail the tenure of the sitting members — a violation that could invite judicial scrutiny.
“Merely changing the nomenclature of a municipal body from Municipality to Municipal Council does not dissolve the existing elected house. Doing so would be unconstitutional and undemocratic,” he asserted.
He added that the state government should first allow the existing Barwala Municipal Committee to complete its tenure, and only then proceed with its upgradation to Municipal Council status. The matter now depends on how the Urban Local Bodies Department addresses the objections and ensures compliance with constitutional provisions.