Lucknow, Jul 9 (PTI): The Allahabad High Court has raised significant constitutional questions over the appointment of elected village heads as administrators after the expiry of the tenures of gram panchayats.
The court has observed that the constitutional validity of section 12(3A) of the Uttar Pradesh Panchayati Raj Act requires examination and directed the additional chief secretary of the Panchayati Raj department to appear before it through video-conferencing on July 10 to explain the state government’s stand on the matter.
The Lucknow bench of the court made the observations on Wednesday while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) matter filed by Sanjay Kumar Sharma.
A bench of Justices Rajan Roy and Manjeev Shukla noted that in Prem Lal Patel vs State of Uttar Pradesh (2000), a coordinate bench had struck down a similar statutory provision as being violative of Articles 243E and 243K of the Constitution, holding that it was inconsistent with the constitutional scheme governing the tenures of panchayats and the powers of the State Election Commission (SEC).
However, the Supreme Court, while disposing of the appeal, left the questions of law open for consideration in an appropriate case.
Hearing the PIL, the high court observed that important constitutional issues arise as to whether appointing an outgoing gram pradhan (village head) as an administrator effectively extends the tenure of an elected panchayat beyond the constitutionally-prescribed period and whether such an arrangement encroaches upon the constitutional authority of the SEC to ensure timely conduct of panchayat elections.
Considering the significance of these issues, the bench directed that the matter be listed along with other pending PILs involving the same question.
It also asked the state government to clarify the legal basis and constitutional justification for continuing with former gram pradhans as administrators after the expiry of the elected bodies’ tenures. PTI COR KIS RC
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