HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY W.P.No.33459 of 2010 Date : 17-3-2011 Between : A.Chinna Subbaiah .. Petitioner And The State of Andhra Pradesh, Represented by its District Collector, Y.S.R. Kadapa District and others .. Respondents Counsel for petitioner : Sri V.R. Reddy Kovvuri Counsel for the respondent Nos.1 to 6 : A.G.P. for Panchayat Raj The Court made the following : ORDER: This Writ Petition is filed for a mandamus to set-aside proceedings Roc.No.4256/2010-A4, dated 23-10-2010 of respondent No.1 whereby he has permitted construction of Gram Panchayat building at Kasireddigaripalle village despite existence of office building at Suryanarayanapuram village, hamlet of Kasireddigaripalle Gram Panchayat (for short “the Gram Panchayat”). Though the case was adjourned more than once for filing counter affidavit by the respondents, no counter affidavit has been filed. I have heard Sri V.R. Reddy Kovvuri, learned counsel for the petitioner and perused the record. The petitioner is an ex-Sarpanch of the Gram Panchayat and a resident of Suryanarayanapuram village. A building for Gram Panchayat office was sanctioned for the Gram Panchayat. The petitioner pleaded that as there was no permanent building for the Gram Panchayat, a panchayat office building was constructed in Suryanarayanapuram village after creation of the Gram Panchayat in the year 1994 which was inaugurated on 2-7-2003. It is further averred that the Sarpanch of the Gram Panchayat, in order to misappropriate the funds, started construction of the building for the Gram Panchayat office at Kasireddigaripalle. When the petitioner and others made a representation on 12-7-2010, respondent No.1 stayed construction of the building until further orders. Subsequently, by the impugned proceedings, respondent No.1 vacated the said order and permitted construction of building at Kasireddigaripalle. At the hearing, the learned counsel for the petitioner strenuously argued that in view of availability of a building at Suryanarayanapuram which is being used by the Gram Panchayat office, construction of another building for the same purpose at Kasireddigaripalle is wholly unnecessary and the same results in waste of public funds. He further argued that having granted stay, respondent No.1 ought not to have issued the impugned proceedings. I have carefully considered the submissions of the learned counsel for the petitioner. In the order impugned in the Writ Petition, it is stated that the Extension Officer, Panchayat Raj & Rural Development, Ramapuram Mandal, has submitted his detailed report wherein it is stated that the Gram Panchayat building is being run at Kasireddigaripalle on rental basis, that all the meetings of the Gram Sabhas are conducted in that building in Kasireddigaripalle which is the headquarters and that the pucca Gram Panchayat building which is located at Suryanarayanapuram is not being utilized. It is further noted in the order that the then Divisional Panchayat Officer, Kadapa, submitted his enquiry report stating that the villagers of Kasireddigaripalle have given their statement on 9-1-2007 before the Enquiry Officer that the Gram Panchayat building which is in existence at Suryanarayanapuram is not being used by the villagers and that permission may be given for running a veterinary hospital in that building. Taking into consideration the contents of both the reports, respondent No.1 has given permission for construction of the building at Kasireddigaripalle. In my opinion, the decision on the construction and location of a Gram Panchayat building falls purely in the realm of administrative discretion. Ordinarily, this Court would not interfere with such discretion unless the same is motivated by extraneous considerations or suffers from patent arbitrariness. The petitioner, who is the ex-Sarpanch, except stating that the present Sarpanch is seeking to misutilise the funds by constructing a building for the Gram Panchayat office in spite of existence of a building for this purpose, failed to substantiate the same. Nothing is brought out by the petitioner in this Writ Petition to show that the contents of the above mentioned two reports on which respondent No.1 has placed reliance are incorrect. The petitioner failed to prove that any of his legal or Constitutional rights have been infringed by construction of new building for the Gram Panchayat. Furthermore, admittedly, Kasireddigaripalle is the headquarters of the Gram Panchayat for which the proposed building is sanctioned. Normally, Gram Panchayat buildings are located at headquarters to facilitate the public. Viewed from any angle, I do not find any illegality in the decision of respondent No.1 impugned in this Writ Petition. Therefore, the Writ Petition is dismissed. As a sequel to dismissal of the Writ Petition, WPMP No.42435/2010 is disposed of as infructuous. ____________________ C.V.Nagarjuna Reddy.,J Date : 17-3-2011 AM