Executive authority of Panchayat could take suo motu action in absence of report from Village Administrative Officer.

P.R. Shivakumar, J.

This writ petition has been filed seeking the issue of a writ of certiorari, calling for the records of the second respondent relating to his proceedings in No.Nil dated 02.07.2007, whereby the petitioner has been directed to remove the tin shed put up by the petitioner abutting the Sub-Registrar Office on its north in Pandalkudi, encroaching upon the property vested with the Panchayat Board and quash the same.

2. We have heard the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioner and that of the learned Special Government Pleader, who has taken notice on behalf of the respondents.

3. According to the petitioner, an extent of 20 square metres of land in Survey No.107/580 of Pandalkudi Village, Aruppukottai Taluk, Virudhunagar District was assigned to her by the Tahsildar of Aruppukottai in his proceedings H.S.T. 152/2005-2006/A3 dated 04.07.2005. As the President of Pandalkudi Panchayat raised objections for the assignments made in favour of the petitioner and four other persons, show cause notices were issued to all of them by the Tahsildar, Aruppukottai on 12.11.2005 calling upon them to show cause why the assignment should not be cancelled. The petitioner and the other assignees submitted their objection. However the assignments made in favour of the assignees, including the petitioner, were cancelled by the Tahsildar in his proceedings dated 22.02.2006. Pursuant to the cancellation of the assignment, the President of Pandalkudi Panchayat/the second respondent herein chose to issue the impugned notice calling upon the petitioner to remove the tin shed put up by her in the above said land stating that the same was an encroachment made on the property belonging to the panchayat. Without challenging the order of cancellation of assignment, the petitioner has filed this writ petition for quashing the above said impugned notice of the second respondent dated 02.07.2007.

4. Reiterating the contentions raised in the affidavit filed in support of the writ petition, the learned counsel for the petitioner argued that the impugned notice of the second respondent was vitiated for the following reasons:

"(i) The power vested with the executive authority of the panchayat under Section 131(2) of the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1994 could not be exercised by the President of the panchayat;

(ii) As per Section 131(2) of the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1994, the revenue officials alone are competent to remove the encroachments; and

(3) Without receiving a report from the concerned Village Administrative officer, the executive authority of the panchayat could not take proceedings for the removal of encroachments."

5. In support of the first contention, the learned counsel for the petitioner relied on the judgment of a Division Bench of this Court made in V. Balamurugan vs. The District Collector, Virudhunagar District, Virudhunagar and another reported in (2007(3) CTC 56). Of course, it is true that the earlier Division Bench of this Court, in the above said judgment relied on by the learned counsel for the petitioner, has held that the President of the panchayat, who is an elected person, cannot exercise the powers conferred on the executive authority of the village panchayat. The relevant portion of the judgment is extracted here under, for the sake of convenience:

"Therefore, as per Sections 83 and 84 of the Act, the executive power of the village panchayat is vested with the executive authority and therefore the president, who is an elected person, cannot exercise the powers conferred with the executive authority of the village panchayat. Hence, in this case, the impugned order passed by the second respondent is illegal."

6. With due respect to the earlier Division Bench of this Court which made the above said observation, we express our inability to concur with the above said view. Executive authority of village panchayat has been defined under Section 83 of the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1994