The petitioners herein, eight in number, are aggrieved by the action of the respondents in de-notifying Polampally, Wadiaram, Redypally, Vallur, Rukmapur, Ananthasagar, Ullithimmaipally, Chinnashivnoor, Chittojipally and Karnalpally as gram panchayats vide G.O.Ms. No.304, PR & RD (Pts.IV) Department dated 29.06.2013; and the consequential order in G.O.Ms. No.300 MA & UD (Elec.I) Department dated 29.06.2013 merging these gram panchayats and in constituting them as the Chegunta Nagar Panchayat.

It is the petitioners’ case that there is no justification in forming the Chegunta Nagar panchayat by merging ten villages located far and wide; the merger does not satisfy the criteria stipulated in G.O.Ms. No.16 MA & UD (Elec.I) Department dated 16.01.2013; for constitution of a Nagar Panchayat, the population should be 20,000 and above; it is only to bring the population above 20,000, have the subject 10 villages been merged with Chegunta village - whose population is only 5,000 - to constitute it as a Nagar Panchayat; the other criteria i.e., market potential, economic importance, scope for industrialization are absent; as against the statutory requirement of 25%, the percentage o