Vaibhav Ganjapure, TNN Sep 27, 2012, 01.14AM IST
NAGPUR: Rejecting the petition of a Gram
Panchayat member from Pune, who was disqualified for having encroached upon on
government land, Bombay High Court has ruled, "wrongdoers, law breakers
shouldn't continue as elected representatives".
"It is not in public interest that a
wrongdoer or law breaker derives any benefit or advantage of his illegal or
wrongful act and continues as an elected representative of a unit of local
self- government. That would be a wrong or bad precedent before the
people," a single-judge bench of Justice SC Dharmadhikari observed.
"The provisions (in Bombay Village
Panchayats Act, 1958) are enacted in public interest and to protect them from
the activities of undesirable persons. They protect and safeguard against evil
or wrongful and immoral acts. Hence, it is for public good that their elected
representative are not tainted or immoral or wrongdoers," the judge added
before dismissing Dnyaneshwar Satav's plea.
"Equally, when the object and purpose is to
discourage and prohibit all such persons who have indulged in illegal and
wrongful acts from holding an elected office in a unit of local self government
such as a village panchayat, then accepting petitioner's arguments would defeat
the same," the court said.
Satav from Kharabwadi village in Pune's Khed town
had challenged the additional commissioner's orders disqualifying him from the
post of Gram Panchayat member on December 20 last year, as per Bombay Village
Panchayats Act, 1958, for allegedly encroaching upon government's land.
Earlier, the collector disqualified him for constructing a house, lavatory and
Gobar gas plant on the village grazing land under control of the government.
Subsequently, he was disabled from continuing as a Gram Panchayat member.
Satav had contested Gram Panchayat polls in June
2010 from general category. During scrutiny, objections were raised by
contestant Jalindhar Kharabi about Satav allegedly encroaching upon the
government property. However, those were rejected and Satav won the polls.
Kharabi then filed an application before collector contending that Satav should
be disabled from continuing as a member on the ground that he had encroached
upon public property. Accordingly, the collector disqualified him after
verifying facts and commissioner endorsed this decision.
Satav denied the allegations in his petition
stating that his father and cousin were residing on this land since 1965 and
had constructed houses and cowsheds. He contended that queries like eligibility
should be raised only during scrutiny of nomination papers and thereafter in an
election petition. He prayed for setting aside commissioner's orders
disqualifying him.
"If the application filed by the Kharabi is
perused in its entirety, it does not only set out the objections that have been
raised at the stage of scrutiny of the nomination papers, but equally
highlights the fact that there was no enquiry nor a detailed scrutiny into
these allegations. Therefore, the petitioner can be held to be disabled to
continue as member if the question of his disability is gone into and decided
by the collector," the judge ruled.
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