.^ v$ HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR Djvisjon Bench : Hon'bte Shri Dhirendra IVIishra, & Hon'bteShri R.N«Chandrakar, JJ Writ Apoeal No. 359 of 2010 Appeyants Petitioners Respondents 1. Atui Kumar Gupta, S/o Arun Kumar Gupta, aged about 38 years, Chartered Accountant, Atul Run & Co. Maharaj Gali, Jodapipal, Ambikapur, District Surguja (CG) 2. Santosh Kumar Sinha, S/o Santan Prasad Sinha, aged about 42 years, Chartered Accountant, S Kumar Sinha, Assocjates Tripathi Complex Bramh Road, Ambikapur. 3. Dinesh Agrawal S/o Shri Nandu Ram Agrawal, aged about 39 years, Chartered Accountant, Dinesh Rashmi Agrawal & Co. Khare Complex Gudari Chowk, Ambikapur. 4. Ajay Kumar Gupta, S/o Shri Raghunath Prasad Gupta, aged about 33 years, Chartered Accountant Ajay Gupta & Co. Church Road, Joda Pipal, Ambikapur. 5. Prashant Kumar Agrawal, S/o Somraj Agrawal, aged about 30 years, Chartered Accountant, R/o Bauripara, Ambikapur, District Surguja. 6. Abhishek Jain, S/o Late Shri Kamlesh Kumar Jain, aged about 37 years, Abhishek K Jain & Co. Behind Amar Petrol Ambedkar Chowk, Ambikapur. 7. Jitendra Sinha S/o Shri Vishwanth Prasad Singh, aged about 42 years, Chartered Accountant JP RMM & Co. near Kali Mandir, Ring Road, Chopdpara, Ambikapur. -Versus- 1. State of Chhattisgarh, Through the Secretary, Panchayat and Rural Development Mantralaya, DKS Bhawan, Raipur (CG) 2. Additional Secretary, CG Govt. Panchayat and Rural Development Raipur (CG) 3. Commissioner, Mahatma National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme Development Commissioner, Office Rajpur (CG) 4 Collector/District Program Coordinator, Mahatma National Rural Employment Guarantee ^""^^ f-€"^ ^ '^..^'•^> ""x ^ ^ ...'^ ^^y^y '^^s&^^^ z Lf^ 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Scheme, Ambikapur, Surguja (CG) District Jain Kalpana Vinay & Assodates, Chartered Accountant, DH Plaza Raipur (CG) V. Jaiswal & Co. Chartered Accountant, Sector-111, Vidya Nagar, Ambikapur, District Surguja (CG) Ajay Kumar Gupte, S/o Shri Raghunath Prasad Gupta, aged about 33 years, Chartered Accountant Ajay Gupta & Co. Church Road, Joda Pjpal Ambikapur. Prashant Kumar Agrawaj, S/o Somraj Agrawal, aged about 30 years, Chartered Accountant, R/o Bauripara, Ambikapur, District Surguja. Abhishek Jain, S/o Late Shri Kamlesh Kumar Jain, aged about 37 years, Abhishek K Jain & Co. Behind Amar Petrol Ambedkar Chowk, Ambikapur. Jitendra Sinha, S/o Shri Vishwanth Prasad Singh, aged about 42 years, Chartered Accountant, JP RMM & Co. near Kali Mandir, Ring Road, Chopdpara, Ambikapur. Santosh Kumar Singh, S/o Late Shri Ram Iqbal Singh, aged about 39, Chartered Accountant, Santo^h Singh & Company Church Road; Kedarpur, Ambikapur. and Writ Appeal No.363 of 201 O Appellants 1. Ajay Kumar Gupta, S/o Shri Raghunath Petitioners Prasad Gupta, aged about 33 years, Chartered Accountent Ajay Gupta & Co. Church Road, Joda Pipal, Ambikapur 2. Prashant Kumar Agrawal, S/o Somraj Agrawal, aged about 30 years, Chartered Accountant, R/o Bauripara, Ambikapur, District Surguja 3. Abhishek Jain, S/o Late Shri Kamlesh Kumar Jain, aged about 37 years, Abhishek K Jain & Co. Behind Amar Petrol Ambedkar Chowk, Ambikapur 4. Jitendra Sinha, S/o Shri Vishwanth Prasad Singh, aged about 42 years, Chartered Accountant, J.P. RMM & Co. near Kali Mandir, Ring Road, Chopdpara, Ambikapur BBp ^^^^^^^^ ys^^. ^7 ResDondents w Vs. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. State of Chhattisgarh, Through: the Secretary, Panchayat and Rural Development, Mantralaya, DKS. Bhawan, Raipur (CG) Additional Secretary, CG Govt. Panchayat and Rural Development, Raipur (CG) Commissioner, Mahatma National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme Development Commissioner, Office Raipur (CG) Collector/District Program Coordinator, Mahatma National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Ambikapur, District Surguja (CG) Jain Kalpana Vinay & Associates, Chartered Accountant, D.H. Plaza Raipur (CG) V. Jaiswal & Co. Chartered Accountant, Sector-111, Vidya Nagar, Ambikapur, District Surguja (CG) Atul Kumar Gupta, S/o Arun Kumar Gupta, aged about 38 years, Chartered Accountant, Atul Run & Co. Maharaj Gali, Jodapipal, Ambikapur, District Surguja (CG) Santosh Kumar Sinha, S/o Santan Prasad Sinha. aged about 42 years, Chartered Accountant, S. Kumar Sinha Associates Tripathi Compfex Bramh Road, Ambikapur Dinesh Agrawal, S/o Shri Nandu Ram Agrawal, aged about 39 yea.rs, Chartered Accountant, Dinesh Rashmi, Agrawal & Co. Khare Complex, Gudari Chowk, Ambikapur Santosh Kumar Singh, S/o Late Shri Ram iqbal Singh, aged about 39 years, Chartered Accountant, Santosh Singh & Company Church Road, Kedarpur, Ambikapur [Sl. No.7 to 10 are petitioners] Present Mr. A.K. Prasad, counsel for the appellants/petitioners in WA No.359/10. Mr. Raj Vardhan Singh, counset for the appellants/petitioners in WA No. 363/10. Mr. V.V.S. Murthy, Dy. Advocate General for the State. ^ ^ ORAL JUDGMENT (26mNovember,2010) Per Dhirendra Mishra, J The above writ appeals are being disposed of by this common judgment as both these appeals are directed against the order dated 10n1 September, 2010 passed in WP(c) No.3931/10, Atul Kumar Gupta & others Vs. State ofCG & others. 02. The appellants/petitioners are Chartered Accountants (in short "CAs"). They applied for empanelment as CAs for auditing of funds of the Mahatma Gandhi Nationa! Rural Empjoyment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) in Surguja district, pursuant to the advertisement dated 24.6.2010 (Annexure P/2). During pendency of their applications, respondents No. 5 & 6 were appointed as CAs for auditlng the funds of MGNREGA in Surguja district. The petitioners challenged their appointment by filing the above writ petition and the same has been dismissed by the impugned order. 03. Mr. A.K. Prasad and Mr. Raj Vardhan Singh, learned counsel appearing for the appeilants/petitioners vehemently argued that appointment of respondents No. 5 & 6 as CAs for the District - Surguja is contrary to the stipulation of the Scheme framed under Section 4(1) of the National Rurai Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (in short "the Act, 2005") as appointment of the auditors in the district level has to be made by the Coilector-cum- District Program Coordinator of the concerned district under the Scheme. Even for the purposes of appointment at the State ievel, State Levei Empowerment Comtnittee constituted under the Scheme has been entrusted with the power to appolnt CAs, whereas the appointment order has been issued by the Additionat Secretary of the Panchayat and Rurat Development Department of the State, who is neither Chairman of the State Level Etnpowerment Committee, nor District Program Coordinator-cum-Collector. Since the applications were invited from the desirous CAs for appointment in the district of Surguja, it was incumbent on the respondents to adhere to the procedure prescribed under the Scheme and considering their applications for appointment in the district of Surguja. However, the appojntments have been made dehors the scheme on some extraneous considerations, as would be evident from perusal ofthe impugned order itself. Heard learned counsel for the appeiiants on admission. ^- vr 05. Learned Single Judge, after elaborately dealing with Section 4 of the Act, 2005, guideiines framed by the Central Government to facilitate the deslgn and implementatlon of the Act, 2005 and the Scheme framed by the State Govemment ynder Section 4(1) of the Act, has obsesved that the Act does not provide for any auditsng to be done by the CAs appointed by the District Program Coordinator alone and the Scheme is only an arrangement to impEement the object sought to be achieved by the statutory enactment. The appointment of CAs at the State level does not run counter to the provisions of the Act, 2005 and the guidelines, and the same is also not in contravention ofthe object and purposes ofthe Act, 2005. guidelines and the Scheme. The Scheme being an administratjve action cannot supersede the provjsions of a statute. Further, considering that the auditing was to be necessariiy compieted within a period of 2-3 months from 15.6.2010 or else the State may not receive grant from fhe Centrai Government, the petition hasbeen dismissed bythe tearned Singie Judge. 06. After hearing iearned counsei for the appellant, after perusal of the pleadlngs of the respectlve parties in the writ petition and the documents annexed therewith, we are ofthe opinlon that the impugned order passed by the Searned Singie Judge is strictly in accordance with law and does not cad for any interference. Accordingiy, the instant writ appeals, being without any ^ubstance, are hereby dismissed at the admission stage itself. Sd/- Dhirendra Mishar Judge Sd/- R.N.Chandrakar Judge U(6\ ^