JARMAL SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This judgment shall dispose of CWP No.7544 of 2019 and CWP No.32720 of 2018 together as common questions of law and facts are involved in both the petitions. For reference, facts are being taken up from CWP No.7544 of 2019.

(2.) In CWP-7544-2019, the petitioner is seeking quashing of the impugned order dtd. 26/12/2018 (Annexure P-17) passed by respondent No.2-Director, Rural Development and Panchayats Department, Punjab, vide which bifurcation of Gram Panchayat, Valtoha Sandhuan into two Panchayats i.e. Gram Panchayat, Adda Valtoha and Valtoha Sandhuan, has been upheld.

(3.) In the present case, earlier the petitioner had approached this Court by filing a petition i.e. CWP-21715-2018 (Annexure P-15), challenging the actions of the Government in either forming new Gram Panchayats or de-notifying/bifurcating new Gram Panchayat, village Valtoha Sandhuan, District Tarn Taran. In that case, plea taken was that the Panchayat Secretary Shri Satnam Singh, custodian of the record of Gram Panchayat, Valtoha Sandhuan, had misled some members of the Gram Panchayat, including the petitioner-Sarpanch and obtained their signatures by saying that the cheques were required to be issued urgently. At that time, he kept some space vacant in the original proceeding book. Later on, he filled that space by showing a resolution dtd. 18/8/2017 for bifurcation of Gram Panchayat, Valtoha Sandhuan into two Panchayats and committed a fraud. Vide order dtd. 19/12/2018 (Annexure P-15), the said petition was partly allowed along with other petitions and a direction was given to the State Government to reconsider the issues after giving opportunities of hearing to all the rival parties and pass a speaking order on or before 29/12/2018.