ALLADA BHASKARA RAO Vs. GOVERNMENT OF ANDHRA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) G.O.Ms. No. 274 Panchayat Raj & Rural Development (RWS.III) Department, dated 08-09-2009 (for short "G.O.Ms. No. 274") by which G.O.Ms. No. 350 Panchayat Raj & Rural Development (RWS-III) Department, dated 31-08-2006 (for short G.O.Ms. No. 350) was amended substituting the original paragraph No. 5 with a new paragraph providing for the names of the local persons, namely, a member from among the elected Ward Members of the Gram Panchayat, a Woman Member from among the Self Help Group and a Person of the village, who is having interest -in development activities, to be submitted by the Mandal Parishad Development Officer to the District Collector, who will in turn take the approval of the District In-charge Minister, for reconstitution of the Village Level Implementation-cum-Monitoring Committee at Gram Panchayat Level in respect of various activities under Indiramma Programme, is under challenge in this batch of writ petitions.

(2.) The petitioners are mostly Sarpanches of various Gram Panchayats (except the 3rd petitioner in W.P. No. 20701 of 2009, who is a Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency Member) and contend that various Government Orders were issued by State Government from time to time to enable the Gram Panchdyats to function as units of self- government after the Seventy-third Amendment to the Constitution of India and various development activities and programmes are taken up at the village level including the Integrated Novel Development In Rural Areas and Model Municipal Areas popularly known as Indiramma Programme. G.O.Ms. No. 350 was issued keeping in view the provisions of the Seventy-third Constitution Amendment for reconstituting the Implementation-cum-Monitoring Committee for INDIRAMMA Programme with the Sarpanch as Chairperson to ensure that only eligible persons will get the benefit of the Programme and to find out and take action regarding ineligible beneficiaries; Phase I and Phase II Projects under Indiramma Programme were undertaken for the benefit of the persons selected by the Committee and most of the Sarpanches of Gram Panchayats selected under Phase I and Phase II belong to ruling party, while those selected; under Phase III are not so. The Government issued G.O.Ms. No. 505 Panchayat Raj & Rural Development (RWS.III) Department, dated 12-11-2007 in respect of preparatory works for implementation of Phase III of the Programme specifying that the constitution of the Village Level Implementation Committee and Monitoring Committee shall be as per the provisions of G.O.Ms. No. 350. The selection of beneficiaries should commence from 01-01-2008 and by G.O.Ms. No. 238 Panchayat Raj & Rural Development (RWS. III) Department, dated 01-08-2009, the existing composition of the Committee was changed still retaining the Sarpanch as the Chairman/Chairperson; but making a Member from among the elected Ward Members of Gram Panchayat, a Woman Member from among Self Help Group, a Person of the village, who is having interest in development activities and the Panchayat Secretary, as Members, the last being Member Convener, in the place of a Member of Rajeev Yuva Shakti Group, a Member of the Women Self Help Group, three local persons having interest in development activities and the Village Secretary, the last being Member Convener.

(3.) By virtue of the impugned G.O., the provision for submission of the names of the local persons by the Panchayat Secretary/Village Secretary in consultation with the Sarpanch, was deleted and the intent and purpose of G.O.Ms. No. 350 was defeated. The Sarpanch as the Chairman of the Committee was reduced to a figure head with the Committee being constituted in entirety, in effect and substance, by the Mandal Parishad Development Officer. The Directive Principle under Article 40 of the Constitution to endow the Gram Panchayats with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self-government, was defeated and the Seventy-third Amendment to the Constitution and the consequential G.O.Ms. No. 571 Panchayat Raj & Rural Development (RD.III) Department, dated 26-12-2007 were also contravened by the impugned Government Orders. The discrimination in the implementation between Phases I and II on one hand and Phase III on the other, was mala fide, unjustified and malicious. The colourable exercise of power substituting paragraph 5 in G.O.Ms. No. 350 operates retrospectively making the Committees constituted earlier void and in W.P. No. 4252 of 2008 and batch, the High Court stayed constitution of any Committees contrary to G.O.Ms. No. 350. The impugned Government Orders issued to get over the said interim stay, which was made absolute, are not legal and valid and have to be declared so.