High Court · 2025

1. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Standing Counsel who appears on behalf of the State-respondent nos.1 to 7 and Shri Dwijendra Mishra, Advocate, who has filed his Power on behalf of the Opposite party no.8, the erstwhile Pradhan of the village Sahbapur Pachlakhi, Tehsil Kaiserganj, District Bahraich.

2. This petition has been filed by the petitioner for the following main prayers:- "i) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of Mandamus commanding the opposite party nos.2 to 7 to take possession of Panchayat Bhawan and public toilet from Opposite party no.8 and hand over the same to Gaon Sabha Sahbapur Pachlakhi, Block and Tehsil Kaiserganj, District Bahraich, and decide the application dated 21.03.2025 as contained in Annexure No.9 to the writ petition and opposite parties be further commanded to recover the amount from opposite party no.8. ii) Issue a writ order or direction which this Hon'ble Court may deem, fit and proper under the circumstances of the case. iv) Allow the writ petition with cost."

3. It is a case of the petitioner that the petitioner who is the current Gram Pradhan that a Panchayat Bhawan was sanctioned in Gram Sabha Sabhapur Pachlakhi, Tehsil- Kaiserganj, District Bahraich in the year 2020 under the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) scheme and Gata No.357/0.069 Hectare recorded as Banjar in the revenue record was proposed for the said purpose. The proposal was accepted by the Sub Divisional Officer and the Chief Development Officer. However, the Opposite party no.8 who was the Pradhan of the Village in the year 2020 constructed the Panchayat Bhawan and Public toilet over Gata No.355 which was recorded in the name of Kunwar Dharmendra Pratap Singh of Balrampur Estate. Plot No.357 is adjacent to Gata No.355. The Opposite party no.8 was in illegal possession of Gata No.355 and therefore he constructed the Panchayat Bhawan and Public toilet over the private land of Gata No.357. The Opposite party no.8 thereafter filed a Writ Petition No.2434 of 2023 before this Court which was disposed of by this Court on 03.04.2023 with a direction to the Authorities to take an appropriate action as warranted under law with regard to payment which the Opposite party no.8 claimed was not given to him. One Anki Singh filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) No.890 of 2023 which was later on, withdrawn on 04.10.2023.

4. In pursuance of order dated 03.04.2023, the District Panchayat Raj Officer conducted an Inquiry and passed an order on 18.01.2024 wherein it recorded the statement of the son of the Opposite party no.8, and the son of the petitioner who had appeared as their respective representatives and also the on the spot Inspection Report submitted by the Revenue officials of the area concerned. It came out from the said Inquiry that the writ petitioner Nirmohi Lal of Writ Petition No.2434 of 2023 had got constructed Gram Panchayat Bhawan and Public toilet over Gata No.355 ad-measuring 0.364 Hectare in Village Sahbapur Pachlakhi which was recorded in the name of Kunwar Dharmendra Pratap Singh son of Maharaja Pateshwari Singh of Balrampur Estate instead of constructing the same of Gata No.357 which was recorded in the name of Gram Sabha in Banjar khata. The money spent in the construction of the Panchayat Bhawan and the Public toilet amounting to Rs.18,04,908/- ought to be recovered from Nirmohi Lal and also from the then Gram Panchayat Secretary Smt. Shikha Srivastava. A recommendation was made in this regard of proportionate recovery to be made from the then Gram Pradhan and the then Gram Panchayat Secretary.

5. Till date no recovery has been made and it has also been submitted that the possession of the Gram Panchayat Bhawan has not been delivered to the Gram Sabha/ current Gram Pradhan who is the petitioner before this Court.

6. Shri Dwijendra Mishra has raised a preliminary objection regarding the maintainability of the petition being filed by the petitioner in her individual capacity as Gram Pradhan as the writ petition ought to have been filed on behalf of Gram Sabha, Sahbapur Pachlakhi through its Gram Pradhan.

7. It has also been stated that the Public toilet that was constructed and regarding which allegation has been made in this petition against the Opposite party no.8 has been handed over to the Gram Sabha / Gram Panchayat as is evident from bills raised for development work being done on such pubic toilets.

8. This Court finds that the petitioner is the current Gram Pradhan of Village Sahbapur Pachlakhi, Tehsil- Kaiserganj, District Bahraich, this writ petition has been filed through Shri Pankaj Gupta who is in the panel of Advocates appearing for Gram Sabha.

9. The writ petition has been filed for the benefit of the Gram Panchayat/ Gram Sabha of Sahbapur Pachlakhi and not for the personal benefit of the petitioner and if there is any irregularity in the array of the parties or description of the petitioner on the Memo of the writ petition, it can only be said to be an irregularity and the writ petition is treated as maintainable.

10. In so far as the direction for handing over of Gram Panchayat Bhawan is concerned, we are of the considered opinion that since the Gram Panchayat Bhawan was constructed out of funds from the public exchequer for the benefit of the Gram Panchayat, the Opposite party no.8 is directed to return the key of the said Gram Panchayat Bhawan and hand over its peaceful possession to the Gram Panchayat of Village Sahbapur Pachlakhi. The Block Development Officer, Kaiserganj, District Bahraich, is directed to ensure that the Panchayat Bhawan is handed over to the current Gram Panchayat Secretary and Gram Pradhan in his presence.

11. The writ petition stands disposed of. Order Date :- 21.8.2025 N.PAL NARESH PAL High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench

1. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Standing Counsel who appears on behalf of the State-respondent nos.1 to 7 and Shri Dwijendra Mishra, Advocate, who has filed his Power on behalf of the Opposite party no.8, the erstwhile Pradhan of the village Sahbapur Pachlakhi, Tehsil Kaiserganj, District Bahraich.

2. This petition has been filed by the petitioner for the following main prayers:- "i) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of Mandamus commanding the opposite party nos.2 to 7 to take possession of Panchayat Bhawan and public toilet from Opposite party no.8 and hand over the same to Gaon Sabha Sahbapur Pachlakhi, Block and Tehsil Kaiserganj, District Bahraich, and decide the application dated 21.03.2025 as contained in Annexure No.9 to the writ petition and opposite parties be further commanded to recover the amount from opposite party no.8. ii) Issue a writ order or direction which this Hon'ble Court may deem, fit and proper under the circumstances of the case. iv) Allow the writ petition with cost."

3. It is a case of the petitioner that the petitioner who is the current Gram Pradhan that a Panchayat Bhawan was sanctioned in Gram Sabha Sabhapur Pachlakhi, Tehsil- Kaiserganj, District Bahraich in the year 2020 under the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) scheme and Gata No.357/0.069 Hectare recorded as Banjar in the revenue record was proposed for the said purpose. The proposal was accepted by the Sub Divisional Officer and the Chief Development Officer. However, the Opposite party no.8 who was the Pradhan of the Village in the year 2020 constructed the Panchayat Bhawan and Public toilet over Gata No.355 which was recorded in the name of Kunwar Dharmendra Pratap Singh of Balrampur Estate. Plot No.357 is adjacent to Gata No.355. The Opposite party no.8 was in illegal possession of Gata No.355 and therefore he constructed the Panchayat Bhawan and Public toilet over the private land of Gata No.357. The Opposite party no.8 thereafter filed a Writ Petition No.2434 of 2023 before this Court which was disposed of by this Court on 03.04.2023 with a direction to the Authorities to take an appropriate action as warranted under law with regard to payment which the Opposite party no.8 claimed was not given to him. One Anki Singh filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) No.890 of 2023 which was later on, withdrawn on 04.10.2023.

4. In pursuance of order dated 03.04.2023, the District Panchayat Raj Officer conducted an Inquiry and passed an order on 18.01.2024 wherein it recorded the statement of the son of the Opposite party no.8, and the son of the petitioner who had appeared as their respective representatives and also the on the spot Inspection Report submitted by the Revenue officials of the area concerned. It came out from the said Inquiry that the writ petitioner Nirmohi Lal of Writ Petition No.2434 of 2023 had got constructed Gram Panchayat Bhawan and Public toilet over Gata No.355 ad-measuring 0.364 Hectare in Village Sahbapur Pachlakhi which was recorded in the name of Kunwar Dharmendra Pratap Singh son of Maharaja Pateshwari Singh of Balrampur Estate instead of constructing the same of Gata No.357 which was recorded in the name of Gram Sabha in Banjar khata. The money spent in the construction of the Panchayat Bhawan and the Public toilet amounting to Rs.18,04,908/- ought to be recovered from Nirmohi Lal and also from the then Gram Panchayat Secretary Smt. Shikha Srivastava. A recommendation was made in this regard of proportionate recovery to be made from the then Gram Pradhan and the then Gram Panchayat Secretary.

5. Till date no recovery has been made and it has also been submitted that the possession of the Gram Panchayat Bhawan has not been delivered to the Gram Sabha/ current Gram Pradhan who is the petitioner before this Court.

6. Shri Dwijendra Mishra has raised a preliminary objection regarding the maintainability of the petition being filed by the petitioner in her individual capacity as Gram Pradhan as the writ petition ought to have been filed on behalf of Gram Sabha, Sahbapur Pachlakhi through its Gram Pradhan.

7. It has also been stated that the Public toilet that was constructed and regarding which allegation has been made in this petition against the Opposite party no.8 has been handed over to the Gram Sabha / Gram Panchayat as is evident from bills raised for development work being done on such pubic toilets.

8. This Court finds that the petitioner is the current Gram Pradhan of Village Sahbapur Pachlakhi, Tehsil- Kaiserganj, District Bahraich, this writ petition has been filed through Shri Pankaj Gupta who is in the panel of Advocates appearing for Gram Sabha.

9. The writ petition has been filed for the benefit of the Gram Panchayat/ Gram Sabha of Sahbapur Pachlakhi and not for the personal benefit of the petitioner and if there is any irregularity in the array of the parties or description of the petitioner on the Memo of the writ petition, it can only be said to be an irregularity and the writ petition is treated as maintainable.

10. In so far as the direction for handing over of Gram Panchayat Bhawan is concerned, we are of the considered opinion that since the Gram Panchayat Bhawan was constructed out of funds from the public exchequer for the benefit of the Gram Panchayat, the Opposite party no.8 is directed to return the key of the said Gram Panchayat Bhawan and hand over its peaceful possession to the Gram Panchayat of Village Sahbapur Pachlakhi. The Block Development Officer, Kaiserganj, District Bahraich, is directed to ensure that the Panchayat Bhawan is handed over to the current Gram Panchayat Secretary and Gram Pradhan in his presence.

11. The writ petition stands disposed of. Order Date :- 21.8.2025 N.PAL NARESH PAL High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench