A village headman in Etawah district whose administrative and financial powers were ceased by the administration over allegations of misappropriation of funds in building toilets and rural homes has got his powers restored by the Allahabad High Court.
The pradhan alleged that he was targetted by the administration and BJP leaders as part of political vendetta as he was affiliated to the opposition Samajwadi Party. The case comes as the State political atmosphere heats up ahead of the coming rural body elections.
Magisterial order
The administrative and financial powers of Sunil Kumar Yadav, pradhan of the Asafpur gram panchayat, were ceased by an order by the District Magistrate under Section 95 (1) (g) of the Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act, 1947 on August 20. Charges against Mr. Yadav were found prima facie proved in the preliminary enquiry charges against him, recorded the DM’s order.
The pradhan challenged the order, arguing that the procedure laid down in the Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Raj (Removal of Pradhans, Up-Pradhans and Members) Enquiry Rules, 1997 was not followed. Mr. Yadav also contended that he was neither issued any show-cause notice nor did the DM record satisfaction justifying invocation of power under Section 95 (1) (g) of the Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act, 1947.
While putting a stay on the DM’s order till the next hearing, a Bench of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra allowed the pradhan to continue in his post and exercise his administrative and financial powers.
A perusal of the order passed by the DM does not reveal that any show-cause notice was issued to the petitioner nor his version was considered, said the court in a September 19 order.
‘Political vendetta’
Mr. Yadav alleged that the administration took action against him at the behest of BJP leaders as part of a “political vendetta.” He pointed out that the administration ceased his powers after recommendations for conducting an inquiry were made by BJP MP Ram Shankar Katheria, BJP MLA from Barthana, Savitri Katheria and BJP district president Ajay Pratap Singh Dhakre.
In a June 2 letter to the district Magistrate, MLA Katheria asks for a probe against the pradhan accusing him of “misleading” the eligible beneficiaries of toilets and rural homes under the Swachh Bharat Mission and Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana and misallocation of funds.
“All the construction work was complete. But some projects were disturbed for three months as my brother was murdered. The material was ready but the construction could not take off and then came the lockdown,” Mr. Yadav told The Hindu.
He accused the BJP leaders of applying “pressure” on the administration for taking action against him in a hurried manner.
“My powers were ceased without even issuing me a notice,” he said. The court granted the State four weeks to file a counter-affidavit.
Mr. Dhakre, however, maintained that the pradhan was involved in corruption to the tune of almost ₹75 lakh. “Probe was conducted in three phases against the pradhan and he was found involved in corruption in all three probes. The toilets and homes were found only on paper. Besides, the BJP was not probing it, officials were,” he said.