Manoj K. Tiwari, J
1. Heard learned counsel for the parties through video conferencing.
2. Petitioner was elected as Up-Pradhan of Village Panchayat Bhatkanda, Tehsil Jakhnidhar, District Tehri Garhwal in the election held in the month
of October, 2019.
3. Since the post of Pradhan in the said village was reserved for a person belonging to Scheduled Caste Category and, reportedly there was no person
belonging to said Category residing in the said village, therefore, not a single nomination was filed for the post of Pradhan. Consequently, no election
was held for the post of Pradhan.
4. Petitioner is aggrieved by the order dated 07.07.2020 passed by District Magistrate, Tehri Garhwal, whereby a Government Officer has been
appointed as Administrator in Village Panchayat Bhatkanda, Block Jakhnidhar to look after the affairs of the Village Panchayat in the absence of
elected Gram Pradhan.
5. By means of this writ petition, petitioner has sought quashing of the order dated 07.07.2020 and the consequential order dated 17.07.2020 (wrongly
referred as 20.07.2020).
6. Learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that since petitioner is the elected Up-Pradhan of the concerned Village Panchayat,
therefore, she was entitled to have the charge of Pradhan given to her and she has a right to discharge duties of Pradhan in the absence of an elected
Pradhan.
7. A counter affidavit has been filed by District Panchayat Raj Officer, Tehri Garhwal on behalf of respondent nos. 3 & 4. In paragraph no. 10 of the
said counter affidavit, it has been stated that the post of Pradhan in Village Bhatkanda is now reserved for women candidate and elections for filling
the post of Pradhan will be held very soon, in accordance with the directives issued by State Election Commission.
8. Regarding validity of the impugned order dated 07.07.2020, it has been stated that Uttarakhand Panchayati Raj Act has been amended by
Uttarakhand Ordinance No. 5 of 2020, which was notified on 10.06.2020. Reliance has been placed on sub-Section (6) of Section 130 of Uttarakhand
Panchayati Raj Act, 2016, as amended by the aforesaid Ordinance. The amended Section 130(6) is reproduced below:-
“Amendment of Section 130
2. In Section 130 of the Uttarakhand Panchayati Raj Act, 2016, the sub-section (6) shall be substituted as follows, namely-
“(6) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other provisions of this Act, where due to inevitable circumstances, or in public interest, it is not
feasible to conduct election for constitution of any Gram Panchayat, Kshettra Panchayat or Zila Panchayat before the expiration of its term, the State
Government or any officer authorized by it in this behalf may by order appoint administrator and such administrator shall hold the post for such period
not exceeding six months as specified in the said order and shall discharge all powers and functions, of Pradhan in case of Gram Panchayat, Pramukh
in case of Kshettra Panchayat, Chairman in case of Zila Panchayat with powers and functions of the committees of three level Panchayats:
Provided that where even after election no eligible candidate is available, for Pradhan and where in the opinion of the State Election Commission it is
not feasible to conduct election due to existence of such emergency circumstances, the State Government or any officer authorized by it in this behalf
may, by order, appoint administrator for such period as specified in said order:
Provided further that where two third members, have not been elected, for the constitution of Gram Panchayat and in the opinion of the State Election
Commission it is not feasible to conduct election due to the existence of emergency circumstances, any prestigious person of concerned Gram
Panchayat may be nominated, by the State Government or any officer authorized by it in this behalf, by order on the post of member Gram Panchayat,
for such period as specified in said order, till election.â€
9. Since the first proviso to Section 130(6) of Uttarakhand Panchayati Raj Act ordains that in circumstances, like the present one, the Competent
Authority may appoint Administrator for such period, as specified in the order, therefore, the challenge thrown by the petitioner to the impugned order
dated 07.07.2020, cannot be sustained in the eyes of law.
10. In view of Section 130(6) of the Act, the District Magistrate was well within his right to appoint an Administrator.
11. In such view of the matter, this Court does not find any reason to interfere with the impugned orders. However, having regard to the stand taken
in the counter affidavit, filed by District Panchayat Raj Officer, in paragraph no. 10 of the counter affidavit, namely that post of Pradhan is now
reserved for women candidate, the writ petition is disposed of with a direction to the respondents to initiate process for holding election for the post of
Pradhan, as early as possible, preferably within six weeks from the date of production of certified copy of this order.
