JUDGMENT

A. S. NAIDU, J. — The petitioner, the elected Sarpanch of Iswarpur Grama Panchayat in the district of Balasore seeks to impugn the order dated 15th December, 2003, Annexure-6 passed by the Collector and District Magistrate, Balasore, opposite party No. 1 in purported exercise of the power conferred upon him under Section 15 (1) of the Orissa Grama Panchayat Act, 1964 (hereinaf¬ter referred to as ‘the Act’) suspending the petitioner from the post of Sarpanch.

2. Mr. Jagannath Patnaik, learned Senior Advocate appear¬ing for the petitioner, assails the order Annexure-6 on the ground that the same is contrary to the stipulations embodied in Section 115 of the Act and reveals complete non-application of mind of the Collector and District Magistrate. According to him, the impugned order also does not satisfy the mandatory require¬ments of the Act.

3. The order of suspension, Annexure-6, reveals that the Collector was of the opinion that the petitioner had abused the powers, rights and privileges vested in him and his action was prejudicial to the interest of the inhabitants of the Grama. In support of such conclusion, the following charges were levelled against the petitioner :

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