Article 226 judicial review survives statutory deeming fiction, and interim protection may preserve relief before retrospective disqualification.

Article 226 judicial review cannot be ousted or abridged by Section 5B of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888, because a State statute may regulate statutory rights and consequences but cannot exclude the High Court's power to test legality and grant relief. The provision creating retrospective disqualification by deeming fiction operates only on failure to produce the validity certificate within the stipulated period. Where the caste claim is challenged before that period expires, the High Court may grant interim protection to preserve the subject matter of review and prevent the petition from becoming infructuous; such protection does not rewrite the statute. The appeals therefore fail.

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Issues: (i) Whether Section 5B of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888 ousts or restricts the jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India; (ii) whether the High Court could pass an interim or final order interdicting the statutory deeming fiction under Section 5B and protect the elected candidate from retrospective disqualification pending judicial review.

Issue (i): Whether Section 5B of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888 ousts or restricts the jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

Analysis: The constitutional power of judicial review under Article 226 is a basic feature of the Constitution and cannot be taken away or abridged by a statutory provision. A State enactment may regulate rights and consequences created by statute, but it cannot exclude the High Court's power to examine the legality of a statutory authority's action or to grant appropriate relief against injustice.

Conclusion: Section 5B does not oust the jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 226. The issue is answered in favour of the respondents.

Issue (ii): Whether the High Court could pass an interim or final order interdicting the statutory deeming fiction under Section 5B and protect the elected candidate from retrospective disqualification pending judicial review.

Analysis: Section 5B creates a deeming consequence of retrospective termination only upon failure to produce the validity certificate within the stipulated period. Where the caste claim is challenged before expiry of that period and the High Court grants interim protection in aid of the writ relief, the court may maintain status quo so that the petition does not become infructuous. Such interim protection does not amount to rewriting the statute, but to preserving the subject matter of judicial review until the legality of the rejection is decided.

Conclusion: The High Court could validly interdict the operation of the deeming fiction before it came into force, and the interim and final orders were within jurisdiction. The issue is answered in favour of the respondents.

Final Conclusion: The appeals fail because the High Court's writ jurisdiction remained intact, and its interim protection against automatic retrospective disqualification was lawful in the circumstances of the case.

Ratio Decidendi: The constitutional power of judicial review under Article 226 cannot be curtailed by a State statute, and a High Court may grant interim protection to preserve effective relief where the statutory consequence has not yet irreversibly operated.

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