AMOL PANDURANG GODBOLE Vs. COLLECTOR, NANDED, DIST. NANDED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, who is directly elected as Sarpanch from the persons whose names are included in the list of voters of village Balirampur, is aggrieved by no-confidence motion passed against him and by rejection of his appeal before the Collector, Nanded by order dtd. 13/12/2021. The petitioner question the legality and validity of the resolution dtd. 3/9/2021 passed in the special meeting of the Village Panchayat, Balirampur and the resolution dtd. 16/9/2021 passed in the special meeting of the Gram Sabha under Sec. 35 of the Maharashtra Village Panchayats Act, 1958. Since the Collector upheld the resolutions of no-confidence passed against the petitioner and dismissed his appeal, the present writ petition is instituted.

(2.) The facts in background of the action impugned, can be briefly summarized as under : - The petitioner is a directly elected Sarpanch of Village Panchayat, Balirampur, being elected in the general election of 2017 on a post reserved for Scheduled Caste. It is worth to mention that by the Maharashtra Village Panchayats (Amendment) Act, 2017 (Mah. Act No. LIV/2018), a novel provision in form of Sec. 30A1A is introduced, providing for election of Sarpanch, who shall be elected by persons whose names are included in the list of voters for village under Sec. 12 and the petitioner came to be elected as a Sarpanch in a process undertaken simultaneously with the general elections of the Village Panchayat of Balirampur. The method of his election being newly introduced as per the amending Act of 2017, give rise to distinct questions, since not only his election but the manner in which the no-confidence motion is to be carried out against a directly elected Sarpanch is the question which arise for determination in the present petition.

(3.) While the petitioner was officiating as Sarpanch of Village Panchayat, Balirampur, which comprised of 18 members, on 30/8/2021, 14 members submitted a requisition to the Tahsildar, Nanded for initiating a no-confidence motion against the petitioner. A copy of the said requisition signed by 18 members is placed on record as Exh. A to the petition. Upon a requisition being moved, the Tahsildar, convened a special meeting on 3/9/2021 after issuing notices on 30/8/2021 for the meeting to be held on 3/9/2021. The contention of the petitioner is to the effect that he was not served with the said notice and fraudulent panchanama is created to establish the service of notice upon him. It is the claim of the petitioner that the notice of meeting was not served upon him and some of the members supporting him could not remain present in the meeting. Consequently, in the meeting held on 3/9/2021, a resolution came to be passed by 14 vs. 00 against the petitioner and the Tahsildar declared that out of the 18 members eligible for voting, the 14 members who were present, voted in favour of the resolution of no-confidence and hence the motion being passed by 3/4th majority in terms of the Maharashtra Village Panchayats (Amendment) Act, 2017, the no-confidence motion was declared to have been granted. By concluding the special meeting held for the said purpose, the no-confidence resolution passed in the meeting was forwarded to the Collector.