IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CWJC No.2961 of 2009 Bhogi Lal Rai, Son of Late Anirudh Rai, Resident of Village Jarauli, PS Nirmali, District Supaul. ---- Petitioner. Versus 1. The State of Bihar, through the Secretary, Department of Rural Development, Government of Bihar, Patna. 2. The Director, Panchayat Raj Directorate, Government of Bihar, Patna. 3. The District Magistrate-cum-District Election Officer, Supaul. 4. The Deputy Development Commissioner, Supaul. 5. The District Panchayat Raj Officer, Supaul. 6. The Sub-divisional Magistrate, Nirmali having his office at Nirmali, PS Nirmali, District Supaul. 7. The Block Development Officer, Nirmali, PS Nirmali, District Supaul. 8. The Mukhiya, Gram Panchayat Raj, Hariyahi, PS Nirmali, District Supaul. -- Respondents. ----------- For the petitioner : Mr. T.N. Maitin, Senior Advocate Mr. Yogendra Kumar, Advocate Mr. Dr. M.K. Gautam, Advocate Mr. Ram Naresh Roy, Advocate For the respondents : Mr. Prabhakar Tekriwal, G.A. 1 Mr. Manoj Kumar Jha, A.C. to G.A. 1 ******** 8 22.11.2011 Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and the counsel appearing on behalf of the State. A dispute has arisen because of the fact that a separate Panchayat has been created known as Hariyahi under the Nirmali Block in the district of Supaul. The prayer of the writ petitioner is that the Panchayat Bhawan should be at village Jarauli for the Gram Panchayat Hariyahi. Learned counsel for the petitioner has based his claim on the basis of Rule 3 of Bihar Panchayat Miscellaneous Rule, 1961 which reads 2 as follows: 3. Locating of Panchayat Officer – (1) The Officer of a Panchayat shall be located at the Panchayat Bhawan of the Panchayat: Provided that if any Panchayat has not got its own Panchayat Bhawan the office of the Panchayat shall be located at such a place in the Panchayat area as may be unanimously decided in a meeting of the Mukhiya, the members of the Executive Committee, the Sarpanch and the Panches convened for the purpose and presided over by the District Panchayat Officer : Provided further that if there is a difference of opinion regarding the selection of a place where a Panchayat Bhawan should be located, a decision may be taken by putting the matter to vote in which the District Panchayat Officer shall not have the right to vote and in case of equality of votes, the Mukhiya shall have second or casting vote. (2) The District Panchayat Officer shall inform the Sub- divisional Magistrate and the District Magistrate about the place selected for locating a Panchayat Bhawan. (3) A decision regarding the location of ‘Panchayat Bhawan’ under sub-rule (1) shall be final and no appeal shall lie against such decision. It is submitted on behalf of the learned counsel that all the villagers as per Annexure-6 have shown their willingness to have the Panchayat Bhawan at Jarauli. It has also been emphasized that some of the villagers of 3 Jarauli had donated the land on which a Kutcha construction of a Panchayat Bhawan already exists and, therefore, the Panchayat Bhawan should be at Jarauli. Counsel for the State on the other hand points out that under Section 129(1) of the Bihar Panchayat Raj Act, 1993, the State Government has the power to issue directions to any Panchayat in matters relating to State and national policies. On the basis of the aforesaid provision, the State Government issued a letter as contained in Annexure-A to the counter affidavit filed on behalf of respondent no. 2 which would indicate that because several disputes arose, as there is no uniformity or agreement amongst the villagers, as to where the Panchayat Bhawan should be placed, the Government has come out with the notification stating that it should be at the headquarters. It may be noted that the 1993 Act has been repealed and replaced by the Bihar Panchayat Raj Act, 2006. It is submitted on behalf of the State that since there is no provision under the 2006 Act regarding this aspect of the matter, the government’s notification issued vide Annexure-A under the 4 1993 Act shall be operative as per Section 171(g) of the 2006 Act. The conclusion reached by this Court is that there should be a uniformity policy with respect to the location of a Panchayat Bhawan. The offices are usually situated in the headquarters and by virtue of the same logic, in my opinion, the Panchayat Bhawan should also be situated at the headquarter. However, the State of Bihar can always in exceptional cases, where it is necessary and for good reasons change the village where the Panchayat Bhawan is situated. In the present case this Court cannot pass any positive order in favour of the petitioner. This writ application is thus, disposed of. Sanjay (Sheema Ali Khan, J.)