Civil Writ Petition No.485 of 2011 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Civil Writ Petition No.485 of 2011 Date of Decision:12.01.2011 Mukhtiar Chand ......Petitioner Versus State of Punjab and others .....Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MEHINDER SINGH SULLAR. Present: Mr.C.L.Premy, Advocate, for the petitioner. **** M EHINDER S INGH S ULLAR , J.(oral) The conspectus of the facts, culminating in the commencement, relevant for disposal of the present writ petition and emanating from the record, is that in the wake of general panchayat elections held in the month of May, 2008, petitioner-Mukhtiar Chand was elected as a Panch of Gram Panchayat Mohan Ke Hither Block, Guru Harsahai, District Ferozepur, in view of the provisions of the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994(hereinafter to be referred as “the Act”). He was stated to have illegally cut and sold twelve green Shisham(Tahli) trees from the Cremation Ground of the village. The matter was reported to the concerned BDPO (respondent No.4), who enquired the matter and found the petitioner guilty of illegal cutting and selling the Shisham trees from the Cremation Ground, without passing any Resolution, vide report dated 25.08.2010(Annexure P-9). The DDPO (respondent No.3) accepted the report of the BDPO and referred the matter to the Director, Rural Development Panchayats, Punjab(respondent No.2), for taking action against him, vide reference dated 03.09.2010(Annexure P-10). Consequently, a show cause notice was issued to the petitioner, to which he filed the reply. Civil Writ Petition No.485 of 2011 2 2. After considering the entire matter, respondent No.2 immediately suspended the petitioner from the post of Panch during the course of regular enquiry under Section 20(4) of the Act, by virtue of impugned order dated 29.10.2010(Annexure P-14). 3. Aggrieved by the impugned order(Annexure P-14), the appeal filed by the petitioner was also dismissed by respondent No.1, vide impugned order dated 15.11.2010(Annexure P-16). 4. The petitioner still did not feel satisfied and filed the present writ petition, challenging the impugned orders(Annexures P-14 and P-16), invoking the provisions of Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India. 5. Having heard the learned counsel for the petitioner, having gone through the record with his valuable help and after bestowal of thoughts over the entire matter, to my mind, there is no merit in the instant writ petition. 6. Ex facie, the argument of the learned counsel for the petitioner that since the Enquiry Officer did not properly examine the matter and submitted his report(Annexure P-9), without recording any cogent evidence, so, the impugned orders(Annexures P-14 and P-16) based on it, are arbitrary and illegal, is not only devoid of merit but misplaced as well. 7. As is evident from the record that Jagdish Chander son of Ganesha Ram filed a complaint against the petitioner, inter alia, on the ground that he has illegally cut and sold twelve green Shisham(Tahli) trees from the Cremation Ground, belonging to the Gram Panchayat of the village. During the enquiry, the statements of the complainant and the petitioner were recorded, wherein, the petitioner has specifically stated that he has cut and sold the trees for a total amount of Rs.28,000/-, out of which, Rs.16,000/- has been deposited in the Panchayat Account and rest of the amount has been spent on the works. In view of the admission of the petitioner, respondent No.4(Enquiry Officer) held him guilty vide report dated 25.08.2010(Annexure P-9). The operative part of which is, as Civil Writ Petition No.485 of 2011 3 under:- “After perusing the statement of the complainant and accused Mukhtiar Chand, and visiting the spot, it is clear that Mukhtiar Chand has cut and sold the 12 Shisham trees. After perusal of the photographs of the cut trees, it is clear that the price of the 12 trees was much. For selling these Shisham trees, it was necessary to get pass the resolution and thereafter the permission be taken from the Forest Deptt. as per law and only after getting the Govt. value assessed, the trees be sold after conducting the open auction. The auction amount was to be deposited by Sarpanch in the Panchayat Fund. But Mukhtiar Chand while violating the law had cut the 12 trees and sold the same and only Rs.16,000/- was deposited in the panchayat fund and Rs.28,000/- which was stated by him, the balance amount was also misused by him. Therefore, the allegations against Mukhtiar Chand, Panch are proved for illegal cutting and sold the trees. Therefore, it is not in public interest to keep Mukhtiar Chand on the post of Panch.” 8. Not only that, a show cause notice dated 23.09.2010(Annexure P-8) was given to the petitioner, to which, he filed the reply(Annexure P-13). Having considered the entire matter, respondent No.2 immediately suspended him (petitioner) during the course of enquiry, vide impugned order(Annexure P-14). The matter was again examined by the Appellate Authority and the appeal of the petitioner was dismissed vide impugned order dated 15.11.2010(Annexure P-16). The operative part of which is, as follows:- “After hearing arguments of both the parties and thoroughly examining the record, it is concluded that the appellant had got these trees cut at his own level without approval and sanction of Forest Deptt. and out of that amount, only Rs.16,000/- were deposited and has embezzled the remaining Rs.28,000/-. Appellant has not clarified that why Sarpanch, has given Rs.16,000/- to deposit in the bank. This plea of the appellant appears to be imaginary. Allegation levelled against the appellant is primarily proved. Therefore, there is no need to interfere in the order of Director, Rural Development and Panchayat. There is no weightage and [the appeal is] dismissed(Sic). It is hereby clarified that this decision will not appeal the regular enquiry going on against the appellant and in this regard, enquiry officer doing regular enquiry into the matter of appellant, is directed to Civil Writ Petition No.485 of 2011 4 submit his report to the Director, Rural Development and Panchayats, within a period of two months. After receiving such report, Director, Rural Development and Panchayats will take necessary action in the matter of appellant.” 9. Meaning thereby, there was sufficient material to suspend the petitioner during the course of regular enquiry on the basis of his misconduct. Not only that, he has himself admitted that he misappropriated the amount out of the sale proceeds in an illegal manner. Thus, to me, the respondents have rightly suspended the petitioner, during the pendency of regular enquiry, from the post of Panch of the Gram Panchayat on the ground that he has illegally cut and sold the Shisham trees, without any specific authorisation/Resolution of the Gram Panchayat in this respect. Therefore, the impugned orders deserve to be and are hereby maintained in the obtaining circumstances of the case. 10. In the light of aforesaid reasons and without commenting further anything on merits, lest it may prejudice the case of either side during the course of subsequent proceedings/regular enquiry, as there is no merit, therefore, the instant writ petition is hereby dismissed as such. 11. Needless to mention that, nothing observed, here-in-above, would reflect, in any manner, on merits of the case during the course of regular enquiry, as the same has been so recorded for a limited purpose of deciding the present writ petition. January 12, 2011 (MEHINDER SINGH SULLAR) seema JUDGE