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22. He has also argued that the instructions issued by the Central Government which are said to have been followed in the instant case has to be read into Section 4 of the MLRC and since so far as the name of city is concerned, the procedure as prescribed under Section 4 of the MLRC has admittedly not been followed, such non compliance of the prescribed procedure renders the impugned decision a nullity. He has also stated that in terms of the provisions of Section of 4(1)(vi) of MLRC naming of any revenue are can be altered only if its limits are also Basavraj Page|27 93.22-PIL+.docx altered and since in this case limits have not been altered, as such, change of name was not permissible in terms of Section 4(1)(vi) of MLRC.
(iv) of the MLRC and the definition of the phrase "village" occurring in Section 2(43) of the MLRC and Section 24 of the General Clauses Act.
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93.22-PIL+.docx
25. He has further argued that the draft inviting objections issued by the Revenue and Forest Department included a proposal for change of name of Aurangabad city as well; and it is to be construed as such for the simple reason that the word "village" under Section 2(43) of the MLRC includes the city as well. His submission is that, however, without waiting for the decision on the objections in relation to the proposed alteration of name of the city, the Department of General Administration of the Government of Maharashtra issued final Notification changing the name of Aurangabad city to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar which is in complete contravention of Section 4(4) of the MLRC for the reason that Section 24 of the General Clauses Act has not been complied with.
32. Contending the aforesaid grounds, it has been urged on behalf of the Petitioners that the State has utterly failed to give any good reason which can sustain the impugned decision and hence the Writ Petitions deserve to be allowed.
(D2) SUBMISSIONS ON BEHALF OF THE STATE- RESPONDENTS:
33. Opposing the Writ Petitions, Dr. Birendra Saraf, learned Advocate General of State of Maharashtra has submitted that the ground based on the provisions of Section 2(43) of the MLRC and non-compliance of Section 4 of the said Act is based on complete misreading of the said provisions. He has stated that so far as the altering the name of a city is concerned, Section 4 of the MLRC does not have any application whatsoever and accordingly, no draft Notification was issued under Section 4(4) of the MLRC inviting objections and suggestions for the proposed renaming of the cities of Aurangabad and Osmanabad to the cities of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv. He has drawn our attention to Section 2(43) of MLRC which falls in the definition clause of the Act and has submitted that the said Basavraj Page|34 93.22-PIL+.docx definition clause begins with the phrase "in this context unless otherwise requires". According to learned Advocate General, therefore, inclusion of "city" or "town" in the phrase "village" as it occurs in Section 2(43), will be subject to the context in which it is to be applied.
Section 4 of the MLRC and a city usually comprises of several villages and some times even more than one talukas or districts, therefore, a village can never be said to be included in a smaller or larger urban area and accordingly, reading a city to be included in the definition of the word "village" in terms of Section 2(43) of the MLRC is out of context qua Section 4 of the MLRC.
40. His submission is that the Aurangabad city is a larger urban area and Osmanabad is smaller urban area in terms of the provisions contained in Part-IX-A of the Constitution of India and are covered by Municipal Corporations Act and the Basavraj Page|38 93.22-PIL+.docx Maharashtra Municipal Councils Act, respectively, and since these cities comprise of several revenue villages and therefore, a "city" can never be included within the phrase "village" occurring in Section 4 of the MLRC.