Court No. - 33
Case :- WRIT - C No. - 24995 of 2018 Petitioner :- Brijesh Kumar Shukla Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 4 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Ashutosh Upadhyay Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.
Hon'ble Manoj Misra,J. Hon'ble Ved Prakash Vaish,J.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner; learned Standing counsel for the respondents 1 to 4 and have perused the record.
The present petition has been filed for a direction upon the second respondent (District Magistrate, Jaunpur) to decide complaint of the petitioner dated 17.10.2017 made against the fifth respondent.
It is case of the petitioner that the fifth respondent in his nomination form had not made complete and truthful declaration as regards pendency of a criminal case against him, therefore, it has been prayed that a direction be issued upon the fifth respondent to take action against the fifth respondent under Section 95(1)(g) of the U.P. Panchayat Raj Act, 1947.
We have gone through the provisions of Section 95(1)(g) of the U.P. Panchayat Raj Act, 1947 which prescribe conditions on which a Pradhan could be removed.
Section 95(1)(g)(ii) of the U.P. Panchayat Raj Act, 1947 provides that a Pradhan can be removed if he refuses to act or becomes incapable of acting for any reason whatsoever or if he is accused of or charged for an offence involving moral turpitude.
Whether the offence of which the fifth respondent has been accused of involves moral turpitude or not, is a question of fact which needs to be examined. But merely because fifth respondent has suppressed complete information in his nomination form, may not be a good ground for taking action under Section 95(1)(g) of the U.P. Panchayat Raj Act, 1947.
We are, however, not expressing any opinion whether, on this ground, an election petition can be maintained against the fifth respondent.
However, since this petition has been filed for a direction upon the second respondent to examine the complaint of the petitioner, this Court considers it appropriate to dispose of this petition by requiring the District Magistrate, Jaunpur to examine whether a case for taking action against the fifth respondent under Section 95(1)(g)(ii) of the U.P. Panchayat Raj Act, 1947 is made out or not. Needless to add, that any decision so taken would be strictly in accordance with law and after giving opportunity of hearing to the parties concerned including the fifth respondent.
With the aforesaid observations, this petition is disposed of. Order Date :- 30.7.2018 Vivek Kr.
(V.P. Vaish, J.) (Manoj Misra, J.)