TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2021 (10) TMI 1410
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....titioner from the office of Sarpanch of the 2nd Respondent Gram Panchayat and issue consequential direction to the respondents to permit the Petitioner to continue as Sarpanch for the elected tenure. 1(c). W.P. No. 22668 of 2021 is filed by the Petitioner/Upa-Sarpanch seeking to quash the show cause notice No. 153/2021/A1/Pts. 2, dated 06.09.2021 issued by the 1st Respondent with regard to suspension of the Petitioner from the office of Upa-Sarpanch of the 2nd Respondent Gram Panchayat and issue consequential direction to the respondents to permit the petitioner to continue as Upa-Sarpanch of the 2nd respondent Gram Panchayat for the elected tenure. 2. Heard Sri. Vedula Venkataramana, learned Senior Counsel representing Sri. D.B. Chaitanya, learned counsel for the Petitioners, learned Government Pleader for Panchayat Raj appearing for Respondent Nos. 1, 3 and 4 and Sri. P. Venugopal, learned Senior Counsel, representing Sri. T. Sudhakar Reddy, learned counsel appearing for the 5th Respondent and Sri. G. Narender Reddy, learned Standing Counsel appearing for the 2nd Respondent and perused the record. 3. FACTS of THE CASE i) The 1st Respondent had issued impugned no....
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.... drive started again. Even after several times demolition drive taken up to remove illegal floors. Construction of illegal floors are still going on i.e. they took permission for G+2 from Gram Panchayat and constructing G+3, G+4. This shows Gram Panchayat body failed to stop the illegal constructions as per Section 114 of the Act. Charge No. 3: After assuming charge of Upa-Sarpanch, 12 Unauthorised Layouts have been established in the Gram Panchayat, Kistareddypet of Ameenpur. The Upa Sarpanch has failed to stop these layouts and violated the Section 113 of the Act. Charge No. 4: After assuming the charge of the Upa-Sarpanch, Gram Panchayat Kistareddypet, 62 unauthorized buildings are being constructed; the Upa-Sarpanch has failed to stop these constructions and violated the Section 114 of the Act. Charge No. 5: Sri. Md. Fayeem, Upa Sarpanch, Gram Panchayat, Kistareddypet, has not cooperated with the Panchayat Secretary and Gram Panchayat Staff to stop the illegal structure and obstructed the duties of them." iv) The Charges leveled against the Ward Members are as follows:- "Charge No. 1:-As per CCTV footage, video & audio footage, it is....
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....d the impugned show cause notice. Therefore, the impugned show cause notice is liable to be set aside. viii) Placed reliance on the principle laid down by the then High Court of Andhra Pradesh in D. Sathi Reddy Vs. Commissioner, Panchayat Raj A.P., Hyd. AIR 2000 AP 91. ix) With the said submissions, learned Senior Counsel sought to set aside the impugned notices issued to the Petitioners in all the Writ Petitions. 5. CONTENTIONS of RESPONDENT NOs. 1, 3 and 4 i) As per Section 2(39) and Section 15 of the Act, the Sarpanch includes Upa-Sarpanch. Therefore, the 1st Respondent is having power to issue show cause notice in respect of Upa-Sarpanch and also Ward Members. Section 2(39) defines Sarpanch as a person elected as a Sarpanch under Section 15. Section 15(1) to 15(8) discusses the procedure of elections and the qualifications for contesting. Section 15(9) and Section 15(10) provide for the election of Upa-Sarpanch. Nowhere in the provision it is stated that Sarpanch includes Upa-Sarpach. ii) The Petitioners herein, instead of submitting explanations to the show cause notices, filed the present Writ Petitions. There is procedure laid down unde....
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....r Section 37(5) of the Act to Sarpanch, Upa-Sarpanch and Ward Members. 8. To decide the said lis, it is apt to refer certain provisions of the Act which are relevant. Section 2(39) of the Act deals with the definition of Sarpanch which is as follows: 'Sarpanch' means the Sarpanch of Gram Panchayat, elected under Section 15. 9. Section 15(1) to (8) of the Act deals with the procedure for election of Sarpanch and Section 15(9) and (10) of the Act for Upa-Sarpanch. 15. (1) There shall be a Sarpanch for every Gram Panchayat, who shall be elected in the prescribed manner by the persons whose names appear in the electoral roll for the Gram Panchayat, from among themselves. A person shall not be qualified to stand for election as Sarpanch, unless he is at least twenty-one years of age: Provided that a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the State or a Member of the Legislative Council of the State or of either House of Parliament who is elected to the office of Sarpanch or Upa-Sarpanch shall cease to hold such office unless within one month from the date of election to such office he ceases to be a Member of the Legislative Assembly of t....
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.... no-confidence motion shall not be initiated before the expiry of two years from the date of first no-confidence motion. Motion of no-confidence in Upa-Sarpanch. Explanation:-For the removal of doubt, it is hereby declared that for the purpose of this section the expression ?total number of members? means, all the members who are entitled to vote irrespective of any vacancy existing in the office of such members at the time of meeting: Provided that a suspended office bearer or member shall also be taken into consideration for computing the total number of members and he shall also be entitled to vote in a meeting held under this section. (2) If the motion is carried with the support of at least one half of the total number of members, the District Collector shall by notification remove him from office and the resulting vacancy shall be filled in the same manner as a casual vacancy. Explanation:-For the purpose of this section, in the determination of one half of the total number of members, any fraction below 0.5 shall be ignored and any fraction of 0.5 or above shall be taken as one. 12. It is relevant to note that Section 32 of the Act, dea....
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....es and action thereon under the foregoing provisions of this Section; Provided that no order under this sub-section shall be passed unless the person concerned has had an opportunity of making a representation against the action proposed: Provided further that it shall be competent for the Commissioner to extend, from time to time, the period of suspension for such further period not exceeding six months, so however that total period of suspension shall not exceed twelve months: Provided also that a person suspended under this sub-section shall not be entitled to exercise the powers and perform the functions attached to his office and shall not be entitled to attend the meetings of the concerned Gram Panchayat except a meeting held for the consideration of a no-confidence motion." 15. A perusal of the impugned show cause notices issued to the petitioners herein would reveal that on the complaints lodged by the 5th Respondent and the villagers of the 2nd Respondent-Gram Panchayat, the 1st Respondent had called for report from 3rd Respondent who in turn submitted his report. Basing on the said complaints and report of the 3rd Respondent, the 1st Responde....
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.... the sections, clauses, phrases and words may take colour and appear different than when the statute is looked at without the glasses provided by the context. With these glasses we must look at the Act as a whole and discover what each section, each clause, each phrase and each word is meant and designed to say as to fit into the scheme of the entire Act. No part of a statute and no word of a statute can be construed in isolation. Statutes have to be construed so that every word has a place and everything is in its place. 19. The Hon'ble Apex Court in Nelson Motis v. Union of India (1992) 4 SCC 711 held as follows:- 8. The language of sub-rule (4) of Rule 10 is absolutely clear and does not permit any artificial rule of interpretation to be applied. It is well established that if the words of a statute are clear and free from any vagueness and are, therefore, reasonably susceptible to only one meaning, it must be construed by giving effect to that meaning, irrespective of consequences. The language of the sub-rule here is precise and unambiguous and, therefore, has to be understood in the natural and ordinary sense. As was observed in innumerable cases in India and ....
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.... lead to the construction that the process of entertaining 'reason to believe' or 'the opinion' is an altogether subjective process not lending itself even to a limited scrutiny by the court that such 'a reason to believe' or 'opinion' was not formed on relevant facts or within the limits or as Lord Radcliffe and Lord Reid called the restraints of the statute as an alternative safeguard to rules of natural justice where the function is administrative." 22. Further, in Hindustan Petroleum Corpn. Ltd. v. Darius Shapur Chennai (2005) 7 SCC 627, the Hon'ble Apex Court held that formation of opinion is based on subjective satisfaction and the same has to be preceded by application of mind as regards consideration of relevant factors and rejection of irrelevant ones. 23. In Barium Chemicals (Supra) the Supreme Court observed the following- 28. ....... An action, not based on circumstances suggesting an inference of the enumerated kind will not be valid. In other words, the enumeration of the inferences which may be drawn from the circumstances, postulates the absence of a general discretion to go on a fishing expedition to find evid....