The Commissioner of Panchayat Raj cannot exercise his powers under S. 3 of the A. P. Gram Panchayat Act, 1964, to exclude an area from the boundaries of an existing gram panchayat and constitute a new gram panchayat without giving special reasons in writing for overruling the unanimous opposition of the gram panchayat, as required by R. 8 of the rules made under the Act.

P. A. CHOUDARY, J.

( 1 ) THIS writ appeal is filed against a judgment of our learned brother Raghuvir, J. , dismissing the writ petition filed by the Gram Panchayat of Kolanapalli, West Godavari District. The Kolanapalli Gram Panchayat comprises certain areas of which Komatigunta, Suryaraopet are some. The District Collector, is the Panchayat Raj Commissioner for his area. By his notification dated 13-4-78, he had carved out certain areas from Kolanapalli Gram Panchayat and constituted those areas into a separate gram panchayat. The Kolanapalli Gram Panchayat is not agreeable to this bifurcation of these areas from its jurisdiction. It has therefore filed the aforesaid writ petition assailing the correctness of the Collector s action. The learned single Judge has dismissed that writ petition against which the present writ appeal has been filed.

( 2 ) THE District Collector, West Godavari exercised the powers of the Commissioner of the Panchayat Raj under S. 3 of the A. P. Gram Panchayat Act. Exercising his powers under S. 3. Cl. (2) of the A. P. Gram Panchayat Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act ) he first called upon the Gram Panchayat of Kolanapalli in his show-cause notice dated 27-3-78 to show-cause why R. S. Nos. 1 to 31, 34 to 40, 45 to 161, 167 to 178, 387 to 389 and 402 to 407 of Komatigunta hamlet of Kolanapalli revenue village should not be excluded from the existing limits of Kolanapalli Gram Panchayat and constituted into a separate gram panchayat with the name of Komatigunta. On receipt of this show-cause notice the Kolanapalli gram panchayat met and passed the following resolution :-"it is unanimously resolved to form Komatigunta Panchayat as new Panchayat with Komatigunta and Suryaraopet areas from the present Kolanapalli Gram Panchayat but with western boundary with S. Nos. 58, 57, 56, 54 and 173 i. e. , boundary as Toranalakodu channel and not western boundary with S. Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 31, 34, 40, 45, 46, 47 as indicated in the Roc. No. 2675/78 of District Collector, West Godavari Panchayat wing. "the above resolution was passed unanimously. On receipt of the above resolution unanimously passed by the Kolanapalli Gram Panchayat, the Collector, West Godavari, by his notification dated 13-4-78 constituted Komatigunta as a gram panchayat under S. 3 (1) of the Act with the boundaries specified by him in his show-cause notice dated 27-3-78. In doing, the District Collector did not pay heed to the boundary changes suggested by the resolution. The result was that a new gram panchayat with the boundaries mentioned by the Collector had come to be constituted.

( 3 ) IN the writ petition filed by the Kolanapalli Gram Panchayat, the validity of the Collector s notification dated 13-4-78 was assailed. The petitioner gram panchayat argues that although the Collector has powers under S. 3 of the Act to exclude certain areas from the boundaries of the existing gram panchayat and to constitute the same into a new gram panchayat, he cannot exercise that power where the existing Gram Panchayat unanimously opposed such an exercise of power by the Collector except for special reasons recorded by him in writing. The argument of Kolanapalli Gram Panchayat is that the power of the Collector in constituting Komatigunta as a gram panchayat without giving special reasons in writing for overruling the unanimous opposition of Kolanapalli Gram Panchayat regarding the boundaries of the new gram panchayat, is ultra vires of his powers under S. 3 of the Act. This argument of the Kolanapalli Gram Panchayat was rejected by the learned single Judge leading to the filing of this writ appeal.

( 4 ) NOW, under S. 3 of the Act, wide powers are conferred on the Commissioner of Panchayat Raj to bifurcate local areas from an existing gram panchayat and to constitute them into a separate gram panchayat. The width of this power is the vice of S. 3 of the Act which mentions no limitations whatsoever on the exercise of the powers of the Commissioner of

Click Here to Read the rest of this document