Sing“: gawk IE‘I THE HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH £T BILASPUR wiit Petitim N942 7 / I 20m PETITmNER /$mt. LemBm LC“ M‘x g (1" g W; a Hemthm aged abuut 4i} yearsg Occupatiun — Emma un‘fe, Rf o Vlllaga— Dalpi, situated in Village Panchayat $Qmna13ur Naya, Tahsil — Pandaria, Digtrict— Kabiniham (C.G.]. Jfersus— RESPONDENTS L State of Chhattisgarh, Thmugh Secretary, Directar Panchayat and Rural Development, Mantralaya, Shaetri Chowk, Reipur {Chhattiagaxh} Coileetnr, Kahirclham $3.6.) ,. 3. Sub Divieianel U$ce13 13emiaria? Dieti, Kebirdham. 4,7 3hri Hemhe Lel, $arpa1mh, Gram Panchayat $omnapur Naya, Tellsil— Panda-1a, 'Distt. Kabirdham (C.G.). WIT PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA I FOR ISSUANCE OF A WRIT IN THE NATURE 9F MANDAMUSz ?ROHIBITION§ CERTIORARI ETC.OR ANY OTHER IRECTIQN OR QRDER TO DO JUSTICE IN THE MATTER, W Details 0f the petition. PARTICULAR OF THE PETITIONER : As per cauee title. P£RTICULARS {I}? TEE’RESPGNBENTS : 15w per cause title. T / TI‘IRT WHIC . " H Xl-HC—22 23-12—2004 5hri Rajeev Shrivasmva, cour s2! for ‘fhe pe'ri'rioner. Shri N. K. Agrawm, Depufy Advocm‘e General for respondenfs 1 1"0 Shri Rajesh Pandey, counsei for responden'r No.4. Heard finaiiy. The pe'rifioner', by This wri'l pe‘l’i‘l'lon undar Ar‘l’icle 226 of fhe Cons‘ri'rufion of India. has qUesrloned The legali‘ry, propriety and 1—2004 passed by responden'l' No.2, ‘CoHecTor, Knbirdham, whereby 1'h Coliecfyr Kabirdham changed The cafegory of Gram Panchayaf Somn ur Naya frcm SC women fa General Calegory. The pe‘l'i‘l'ioner's case is fha‘l‘ he along wl'lh her- husband was vol'er of 6mm Panchayaf Somnapur, ‘rher fore;The impugned-order daled 25— 11—2004 passed by 'l'he Collec‘lor is on'rrary ,l'o fhe provisions of Seci'ion ‘ 1993 (hereinafter referred To as ‘fhe Acf’) and fherefore, decision fa en by fhe CoHec‘l-or is illegal. On The ofher hand, respond Te’ reply is fhaf on fhe date when i‘e. on‘23” Sew-ember 2004 ‘rhe pei'ii'ioner was no’r a voier of villag Panchayaf Somnapur, whereas, she was vofer of village Panchnyo‘l' Dom pur. Affer declaring 1'he Panchoya‘f Somnapur as reserved category ‘f r women, the pe‘iifioner moved an opplica'l'ion before fhe Registering Officer on 11-10-2004 in order i'o ’The consfi‘l’uericies were categoriz correcfness of ‘l’he order da‘led 25 e , mgwmm‘aa . wt, ‘ +ake fhe benefi‘l‘ of reaer-ved consvi‘ruency and 901' her name inciuded. When The villugers made a complair‘r, on Thu? an enquiry was made and meefing of Gram Sabha was qlso convened, in ThaT meefing i‘r was found ‘rhu’r excep'r The pefi‘rioner herein/her husband and one more person, no person from The 5.C. communi'ry was} residing in fhe village and oniy ‘rhese 3 persons ‘go‘r included Their nam s in order 10 ‘l'eke benefi'l’ of i'hel ,reservo‘l'ion af‘l'er ‘l'l'ie Panchoya‘l’ dos declared inodver‘l'enfly for éC women confrory fo fhe provisions of SecTion 17 of The Acf; Having heard learned counsel for 'l'he parfies, I have perused fhe , documeni's and The peTiTion. In This onnecTion, SecTion 17 (4) of The AcT envisages fha‘l' ‘The sea'l's reserved der This secTion shall be allo'l'Ted by The prescribed auThoriTy in The 6 am Planchaya‘i wiThin The block by roviso To This secTion envisages ThaT ‘The gram PanchayoT, which has n populaTion of Scheduled CasTes or Echeduled Tribes or oTher Backw d Classes, shall‘ be excluded for alloTmenT of seaT reserved for Sc eduled CosTes, Scheduled Tribes or oTher Backward Classes, as The cas may be.‘ IT is an admiTTed posiTion V ‘i ThaT when The PanchayaT was r served for SC women ’vide order AnnexuresP/Z daTed 23-9-2004, T e peTiTioner was noT voTer of This I Gram PanchayaT. IT is also an adm d posiTion ThaT The peTiTioner along wiTh her husband and one of Their elaTive moved an applicaTion before Thel RegisTering AuThoriTy on 11-10 2004 ThaT is around abouT 18 days reserved for women cafegory and ‘ roTaTion in ‘l'he prescribed manner’. afTer The PanchayaT was declared i e wmmwi-izpqvuvn‘k—m». I w XI~HC-22 r\ based on ‘fhéi' applicafion ‘fhe peuifioner's name was ond‘ered 1'0 be enwred on 15-10-2004 in 111a vo er's iis'r of The 'viHage Panchayuf, Somnapur. Perusa! bf The applica'r on moved by fhe pefi‘rioner and her hnsbund Annexure-R/5 & R/6 respe fiveiy wached wifh the reply filed by fhe S‘rafe/responden‘rs showskf a1' on The da're Le. 11410-2004 They were ‘vo‘rers of village, Domanpur an as per reply filed by ‘H‘Ie Sfu‘l’e even +he pei'i'l'ioner‘s husband was Sarp ch of village Domanpur from 1994 +0 1999 and fheir names were enTered n The vofer's lis‘l‘ of village Somnapur vide order dafed 15—10—2004 and dared 15-10-2004 from Gram Panc nya‘l Domanpur. In This connecTion, . ' fhe relevan'l' provisions is sub—rule (2) cf Rule—14 of +he Chha'H'isgarh Panchaym Nirvachan Niyurn, 1995 hich envisages The? ‘every such lisT shall be liable To revision'by refere ce To The firsT day bf January of The year; in Which iT is so revised' whic means ThaT‘The perscns who were residing as on 1“ January, 2004 ere enTiTled for inclusion of Their names. Perusal of The affidaviT Anne ure-R/7 filed by The husband of The peTiTioner along wiTh The applicaTi n for inclusion of name shows ThaT They were residing since lasT 4-5 onThs in The village Somnapur which means ThaT They were residing in Th village, as per Their own sToTemenT, from The monTh of May-June, herefore, They were‘ noT ordinary ' residents af vilkxge Somnapur as on 1-1-2004. Therefore, in view of‘fhe above, when Gram PanchayaT, Som apur' was declared as reserved/for Q eir names were'dele‘l’ed vide order _,L XI—HC-22 women cafegory, fhaf‘facf pro'mp'r d fhe pe‘ri'l'ioner 'ro ge'r her- name E inciuded in fhe vo‘l’er‘s lisf of vikge Sarpanch‘ I1" is also an ndmi‘Hed posifion ha'l' nofhing has been sfafed in fhe pefi‘fion and 'rher-e is no record ava Iable before fhe Cour'r Tha‘r apar‘l’ from fhe fhese 3 persons whose nam s were en'l'ered in The voTer’s IisT on 15-10—2004, oTher' persons of SC' ca agony were residing in ThaT village. In This background if we examine pr isions of sub-secTion (‘4) of SecTion 17 and SecTion 33—A of The AcT, provisions of sub—se'cTion (4) as menTioned ehriier envisages ThaT if n popuiaTion of Scheduied CasTes is i residing in The villnge, Then ThaT omnapur To confes? The elecfion of llnge will be excluded from The‘ caTegory of SC PanchayaT and on 23 9-2004 There was no SC caTegory voTer in The voTers' lisT of Panchaya Somnapur. SecTion 33-A envisages ThaT jnoTwiThsTonding anyThing conT ined in fhe AcT or The rules made Thereunder, The clerical error or o ission ap‘parenT on The face of The record regarding reservaTion of seaT under sub-secTions (4), (5) and (6) (4) of SecTion 17, aparT from oTher secTions, may be correcTed b The prescribed auThoriTy wiTh The prior permission of The STaTe Govern enT or The officer auThorized by iT for The purpose, aT any Time befo ie The commencemenT of elecTion proceedings.‘ When The complainT lodged before The CollecTor abouT The facT ThaT in village Somnapu no 5C person is residing, Then proceedings were iniTiaTed and clarif caTion from The STaTe GovernmenT of SecTion 13, sub-secTion (2), (3 ) q/ g: \ i d w a Hg? m ang E. “Hat .._<‘; ,_. . % W / was also sough'r regarding applicab li‘ry of fhe provision and for Taking fur‘i’her aciion. The Panthaya‘i’ ‘ari'men'r of’ ‘ihe S'ra‘ie Gavernmen‘r vide Annexure—R/l dafed 15—19 04 expiained 1'0 The Cailec‘i'or', ’ Kubirdham fhaf if on enqLiiry 5C d 5T popuia'i'ion is no? in any village, ‘i'hen under fhe provieions of Sec'ri n 33-A proceedings can be ini‘l’ia‘i’ed and The mis'iake can be rec'rifi Accordingly, proceedings were. ini'i'ia‘i'ed and The impugned'orde s passed under Sec'i'ion 33-A and . correction was carried ou‘r. Theref re, in The firs‘i insfance The acTion . was faken wi'i'h fhe approVal of fhe ‘i'a‘i'e Government Moreover, ac'i'iqn has been iniTiaTed by The CollecTo , Kabirdham under The provisions of Panehaya'i' Aci' and he is an nu+hori ed officer for- proceeding under ihe ‘ PonchayaT AcT in connecTion wiTh Th Panchaya‘r ElecTion. Therefore, in view of The ab ve discussion,,The peTiTioner's name a was in Domanpur PanchayaT EiecTor l Roi! and on 15* January 2004 as per‘ The affidavi'l' eubmiTTed by her h sband, she was noT. residing in The village Somnapur and for includin The name in The voTer's lisT The peTiTioner moved an a/pplicaTion bef re The RegisTering Officer on 11-10- 2C04 afTer The PanchqyaT was decl red as‘reserved and on'ThaT day Le. 23-9-2004 There was novo‘l'er of 5 caTegory in ThaT village, as such The ' ,misT'ake was apparenT on The face o record and looking To ThaT misTake, V The Collec‘l'or, Kabirclham iniTiaTed proceeding and ulTimaTely passed The order under SecTion 33-A of Th AcT. , ‘ “ fan D p — 0 e . r a e XI~HC—22