Parveen Kumari v. State of Punjab & Ors.

CORAM:HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE RANJAN GOGOI, ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH Present: Mr. Raj Kumar Garg, Advocate, with Mr. S.C.Chawla, Advocate, for the appellant. Mr. R.S. Khosla, Addl. A.G. Punjab. RANJAN GOGOI, ACJ (Oral) With the consent of the parties, the matter has been taken up for final consideration and is being disposed of by the present order. The appellant-writ petitioner, who is Sarpanch of Gram Panchayat of Village Khambran, has been removed by a vote of no confidence. Contending that the notice of the meeting in which the no confidence motion was taken up by the Gram Panchayat was not served on the appellant-writ petitioner, the writ petition, out of which this appeal has arisen, was instituted. The said writ petition having been dismissed by the learned Single Judge by order dated 15.09.2010, this appeal has been filed. The only question that would require consideration of the Court in this appeal is whether notice of the meeting of the Gram Panchayat in which the no confidence motion was passed was served on the appellant- writ petitioner in accordance with the provisions of the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 (in short 'the Act').

Section 19 (2) of the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 (which stands repealed by an Ordinance, which is under LPA No. 1190 of 2010 2 challenge in this Court) requires the Block Development and Panchayat Officer to hold a meeting of the Gram Panchayat within 15 days of the receipt of an application under Section 19(1) of the Act expressing an intention to move a motion of no confidence. The said authority is required to give 7 days clear notice of the meeting. The Act does not prescribe any particular procedure for effecting service of such notice on a concerned person. No rules have been enacted till date under the provisions of the Act. The case of the appellant-writ petitioner, as projected in the writ petition, is that notice was affixed on the house of the appellant and at that time and until 7 days thereafter, the appellant was not available as she had gone to Ludhiana to see her ailing sister.

The aforesaid stand taken by the appellant-writ petitioner stands uncontroverted even in this appeal. In such a situation, we are of the view that service of notice of the meeting in which no confidence motion was passed was not effected on the appellant-writ petitioner as a result of which the holding of the meeting was vitiated in law. If that be so, as a natural consequence, the no confidence motion passed against the appellant-writ petitioner would stand invalidated in law. Consequently, we allow this appeal, set aside the order dated

15.09.2010 passed by the learned Single Judge as well as the motion of no confidence passed in the meeting of the Gram Panchayat held on

10.09.2010. The L.P.A. stands disposed of in the above terms. ( RANJAN GOGOI ) ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE ( AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH ) JUDGE February 01, 2011