IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) THURSDAY, THE TWENTY FOURTH DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON’BLE Ms. JUSTICE G. ROHINI WRIT PETITION NO : 27373 of 2007 Between: 1. Vemana Venkateswara Rao, S/o. Narayana, Aged 35 years, Occ. Member of Challachintalapudi Gram Panchayat, Dendulur (M), W.G. district. 2. Naganaboina Satyanarayana, S/o. Bhaskar, Aged 33 years, Occ. Member of Challachintalapudi Gram Panchayat, Dendulur (M), W.G. district. ..... PETITIONERS AND 1. The Govt. of A.P., rep. By District Panchayat Officer, Eluru, W.G. District. 2. The District Collector, Eluru, West Godavari District. 3. The Commissioner, Panchayat Raj Dept., Govt. of A.P., Hyderabad. 4. The Depot Manager, APSRTC, Eluru Depot, W.G. District. 5. Sri Simhadri Srimannarayana, S/o. Subba Rao, aged 45 years, Occ: Sarpanch, Challa Chintalapudi Gram Panchayat, Dendulur (M), W.G. District. (Respondent No4. is not necessary party) .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court will be pleased to issue a writ of mandamus, or any other appropriate writ, order or direction, declaring the action of the respondents in not considering the representation, dated 20.9.2007 and rejecting the same vide Letter No.7093/2007-A5 (Panchayat), dated 5.11.2007 of the 1st respondent, and electing the 5th respondent as Sarpanch though he is working as Conductor in APSRTC, is highly arbitrary, illegal and contrary to the Section 18 of the A.P.Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 apart from violative of Art. 14 of the Constitution of India and further declare that the 5th respondent is not entitled to continue in both the posts of Conductor and as well as Sarpanch of Challa chinthalapudi Gram Panchayat, Dendulur Mandal, W.G. District. The Court made the following : THE HON’BLE Ms. JUSTICE G. ROHINI WRIT PETITION NO.27373 OF 2007 ORDER : The petitioner is a Ward Member of Challachinthalapudi Gram Panchayat, Dendulur Mandal, West Godavari District, whereas 5th respondent herein is the elected Sarpanch of the said Gram Panchayat. While so, the petitioner along with some other members made a complaint alleging that the 5th respondent is working as a Conductor in the A.P. State Road Transport Corporation and therefore not qualified to hold the office of Sarpanch. On the basis of the same, the District Panchayat Officer, after calling for a report from the Divisional Panchayat Officer, Eluru, by letter dated 5.11.2007 informed the 2nd respondent – District Collector that the 5th respondent did not suffer any disqualification and therefore no action need be taken. Aggrieved by the same, the present writ petition is filed contending inter alia that the report submitted by the District Panchayat Officer is contrary to the provisions of Section 18 of the A.P. Panchayat Raj Act, 1994. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioners as well as the learned Government Pleader appearing for the respondents 1 to 4. Despite notice, the 5th respondent did not choose to appear in person or through counsel. Section 18 (1) of the A.P. Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, which provides for disqualification of certain office holders, etc., runs as under : “Sec. 18. Disqualification of certain office holders, etc. :- (1) No village servant and no officer or servant of the Government of India or any State Government or of a local authority or an employee of any institution receiving aid from the funds of the Government and no office- bearer of any body constituted under a law made by the legislature of the State or of Parliament shall be qualified for being chosen as or for being a member of a Gram Panchayat. Explanation :- For the purpose of this section, the expression “village servant” means in relation to,- (i) the Andhra Area, any person who holds any of the village offices of nearaganti, neeradi, vetti, kawalkar, toti, talayar, tandalagar, sathsindhi or any such village office by whatever designation it may be locally known; (ii) the Telangana Area, any person who holds any of the village offices of neeradi, kawalkar, sathsindhi or any such village office by whatever designation it may be locally known.” A plain reading of the above provision shows that no employee of any institution receiving aid from the funds of the Government shall be qualified for being chosen as a Member of the Gram Panchayat. Relying upon the said provision, the learned counsel for the petitioners contended that the 5th respondent herein who is working as a Conductor in A.P. State Road Transport Corporation, which is an undertaking of the State Government, suffered a disqualification and cannot be allowed to hold the office of Sarpanch. However, nothing has been placed before this Court to show that the 2nd respondent has taken a final decision on the basis of the report submitted by the District Panchayat Officer. Since the opinion expressed by the District Panchayat Officer in the impugned proceedings dated 5.11.2007 is not conclusive, it cannot be said that there is any adverse order as such as on today warranting interference by this Court. As a matter of fact, under Section 22 of the Act the power is vested in the District Court to decide questions of disqualifications under Sections 17, 18, 19 or 20 of the Act. As held by the Division Bench in CHAVA ROSAIAH v. CHINTALA VENKATESWARLU AND ANOTHER action can be taken against a Member or Sarpanch only when there is a decision rendered by the District Court as envisaged in Section 22 of the Act. At any rate, it is not necessary for this Court to express any opinion on merits a n d having regard to the facts and circumstances suffice it to direct the 2nd respondent – District Collector – to consider the whole issue and take appropriate steps in accordance with law in terms of Section 18 and Section 22 of the Act as expeditiously as possible preferably within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of this order. Writ Petition is accordingly disposed of. No costs. ______________ G. ROHINI, J. Dt. 24.07.2008 gbs