Court No. - 23
Case :- WRIT - C No. - 20438 of 2018 Petitioner :- Neeraj Kumar Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 6 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Rajesh Kumar Verma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,Amresh Singh
Hon'ble Salil Kumar Rai,J.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner as well as learned Standing Counsel representing the respondents no. 1 to 5.
It appears from the records annexed with the writ petition that one Sripal Verma, who was the elected Gram Pradhan of Gram Panchayat Sunaura Azmatpur, Block Dadraul, Tehsil Sadar, District Shahjahanpur, died on 24.2.2018. Subsequently, the Chief Development Officer/Additional District Magistrate (Finance and Revenue),Shahjahanpur, vide its order dated 15.5.2018, nominated Smt. Phool Kumari i.e. respondent no. 7, who was also a member of the Gram Panchayat, to function as Gram Pradhan till the vacancy was filled in accordance with law. Subsequently, the petitioner filed a representation dated 21.5.2018 before the District Magistrate, Shahjahanpur, i.e. respondent no. 2, alleging that the order dated 15.5.2018, nominating respondent no. 7 to function as Gram Pradhan of the village, was passed without consulting and seeking the opinion of the members of the Gaon Sabha.
The present writ petition has been filed praying for a writ of certiorari to quash the order dated 15.5.2018 passed by the Chief Development Officer, the respondent no. 5, as well as a writ of mandamus commanding the District Magistrate, the respondent no. 2, to expeditiously decide the representation dated 21.5.2018 submitted by the petitioner.
A perusal of the order dated 15.5.2018 passed by the respondent no. 5 shows that there is no recital in the aforesaid order to the effect that before passing the said order, the members of Gaon Sabha were consulted and their opinion was sought regarding nomination of any member of the Gaon Sabha to act as Gram Pradhan in place of the elected Gram Pradhan. In Shyamu Vs. State of U.P. through Secretary, Panchayat Raj, U.P. at Lucknow and others, 2010 (111) RD 17, this Court held that under Section 12-J of Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act, 1947, it was mandatory for the District Magistrate to consult and seek the opinion of the members of Gaon Sabha before nominating any member to act as Gram Pradhan in place of elected Gram Pradhan and only a member who enjoys the confidence of the Gram Panchayat can be nominated to function as Gram Pradhan in absence of the elected Gram Pradhan.
In case, the order dated 15.5.2018 was passed by the respondent no. 5 without consulting and seeking the opinion of the members of the Gaon Sabha and without ascertaining as to who enjoys the confidence of the Gram Panchayat, the said order is liable to be set aside.
In view of the aforesaid, the District Magistrate Shahjahanpur, i.e. respondent no.2, is directed to decide the representation dated 21.5.2018 submitted by the petitioner within a period of 15 days from the date a certified copy of this order is filed before him and in case, allegations made in the aforesaid representation are true and the order dated 15.5.2018 was passed by the respondent no. 5 without following the procedure as prescribed in Shyamu Vs. State of U.P. (supra), the District Magistrate, Shahjahanpur, i.e. the respondent no. 2, shall take fresh steps to nominate any member of the Gram Panchayat to act as Gram Pradhan after seeking the opinion of members of the Gaon Sabha and after ensuring that the said person enjoys the confidence of the Gram Panchayat.
With the aforesaid directions, this writ petition is disposed of.
Order Date :- 30.7.2018 Pratima