Seema Sarkar vs Executive Officer

2. The conundrum in this appeal is about the inclusion or exclusion of the Member of the House of Parliament (for short “MP”) representing the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, who is also an ex­officio member of the Panchayat Samiti, for reckoning the quorum of a special meeting regarding motion of no confidence against the Pramukh of the Little Andaman Panchayat Samiti (for short the “said Samiti”) and also whether he/she can exercise 2 his/her vote on the ‘No Confidence Motion’ within the meaning of the provisions of Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Panchayats) Regulation, 1994 (for short “Regulation”) and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Panchayats Administration Rules) 1997 (for short “the Rules”).

3. A ‘No Confidence Motion’ dated 19th December, 2007 was moved by respondent No.6 against the appellant (Pramukh of the said Samiti). The said Samiti consisted of six members i.e. five directly elected members from territorial constituencies in the Panchayat area and one MP representing the Union Territory. A meeting for discussion of the ‘No Confidence Motion’ was scheduled on 2nd January, 2017 at 3.00 PM in the Conference Hall of the Panchayat Samiti. That notice was duly served to all the members. But only 3 elected members remained present at the scheduled time (3.00 PM) and place of the meeting. As the quorum was not complete, the members waited upto one hour i.e. upto 4.00 PM. Eventually, the meeting came to be dissolved by the Executive Officer for want of quorum of four members, in view of Section 107 of the 3 Regulation. The Executive Officer issued communication in that behalf on 2nd July, 2017 which reads thus:

4. The meeting was fixed at 3:00 pm and waited upto 1 hour i.e., upto 4:00 pm but only 3 members were attended but to fulfill Quorum 4 member is must hence for want of Quorum meeting dissolved.

4. The respondent No.6 assailed the said decision by way of Writ Petition No.14 of 2017 before the High Court at Calcutta, Civil Appellate Jurisdiction, Circuit Bench at Port Blair. Respondent No.6 asserted that the MP had no right to participate in the special meeting regarding a ‘No Confidence Motion’ nor was he entitled to vote thereat. Respondent No.6 prayed for the following reliefs in the said writ petition:

Presence of only three members at the meeting, therefore, did not constitute quorum. Further, the MP being the member of the said Samiti was entitled to participate in the special meeting to consider a no confidence motion and also vote on that motion. As a result, the writ petition came to be rejected.

8. Feeling aggrieved, the appellant has filed this appeal by special leave. The appellant moved the Court for urgent consideration of the matter on 22nd December, 2017 before the Vacation Bench of this Court when notice came to be issued. However, during the pendency of this appeal, the Deputy Commissioner, acting upon the directions issued by the Division Bench of the High Court not only proceeded to remove the appellant from the post of Pramukh of the Little Andaman Panchayat Samiti on 26th December, 2017 but also intended to proceed to fill up the vacancy arising from the removal of the 9 appellant, by scheduling a fresh election on 19 th January, 2018. The appellant, therefore, urgently moved this Court for appropriate orders on 15th January, 2018, when the following order came to be passed:

33. For the above reasons, we conclude that the Division Bench committed manifest error in setting aside the decision of the Executive Officer dated 2nd January, 2017 declaring that the meeting stood dissolved for want of quorum. Instead, we uphold the said decision of the Executive Officer having held that the quorum of the special meeting ought to be of not less 40 than two­thirds of the “total number of membership of the Panchayat Samiti” which includes all the members of the Panchayat Samiti ­ be it directly elected or ex­officio members, as the case may be. So understood, the quorum of the special meeting has been justly recorded as four members. However, as only three members had remained present at the scheduled time and place, the Executive Officer had no option except to dissolve the meeting convened on 2 nd January, 2017. For the same reason, the motion of no confidence against the appellant, in law, could not have proceeded further.

34. Resultantly, the follow up action taken against the appellant, asking him to step down, therefore, also would be non est in law. This Court, vide order dated 15 th January, 2018, had made it clear that the consequential election to fill in the vacancy arisen due to removal of the appellant, would be subject to the outcome of this petition. Accordingly, we hold that all steps taken after the order of the Executive Officer dated 2nd January, 2017 be treated as non est in terms of this order.

35. As a result, we allow this appeal, set aside the impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court in M.A. No.26 of 2017, and instead, we dismiss the writ petition filed by respondent No.6, and to do complete justice, we direct restitution of the appellant to the post of Pramukh of the Little Andaman Panchayat Samiti as his tenure would otherwise have expired in September, 2020. The District Administration shall take follow up steps forthwith and ensure compliance of the directions not later than one week from the date of receipt of a copy of this order and submit compliance report in the Registry of this Court.

36. The appeal is allowed in the above terms. No order as to costs. All pending applications stand disposed of.

May 01, 2019.