Sarpanch Wife Cannot Be Disqualified For Paying Husband For Contract Assigned Before Her Election: Bombay High Court

Holding that a sarpanch cannot be disqualified for making payment to her husband for panchayat work undertaken by him before her election, the Bombay High Court recently restored the panchayat membership and sarpanch post of a woman who was disqualified.

Justice Arun Pednekar of the Aurangabad bench observed that disqualification under section 14(1)(g) of the Maharashtra Village Panchayat Act, 1958 is incurred by a member only when a contract is granted or extended during his or her tenure as an elected member.

“the petitioner has merely made the payment after being elected. The payment done by the Sarpanch / petitioner to her husband is merely a consquence of the labour work done by the husband of the petitioner at an earlier point of time and as such disqualification under Section 14 (1) (g) of the Act of 1958 is not applicable to the case of the present petitioner. The disqualification under Section 14 (1) (g) is incurred by an elected member only in the cases of a contract being granted or extended during the tenure of the elected member”, the court held.

Petitioner Mankarna Kale was elected to the post of Sarpanch of a village in Hingoli district on February 10, 2021. In September that year, village resident Vitthal Baliram Kale filed complaint against the petitioner seeking her disqualification under section 14(1)(g) of the for having issued payment of Rs. 1952 her husband for contractor work.

The District Collector disqualified the petitioner. This decision was upheld by appellate authority Additional Commissioner Aurangabad Division. Thus, she filed the present writ petition.

The petitioner's husband Nagurao Kale is doing labour work of drainage, cleaning, and light fitting etc. The petitioner claimed that her husband did the work immediately prior to her election as a Panchayat member. However, the payment was made after she became the member of the panchayat and the sarpanch, she said.

The complainant argued that since the amount was paid after the petitioner became the Sarpanch, she is the ultimate beneficiary of the amount. Further there was no evaluation of the work before the payment, and the payment was not dispersed by resolution of the gram panchayat and verification, he argued.

From the attendance sheet of October and November 2020, the court noted that the petitioner’s husband was present for the work for which Rs. 13,500/- was to be paid for October and Rs. 6000/- was to be paid for November.

However, the work undertaken was prior to the petitioner’s election as a member of village panchayat, the court noted.

Section 14(1)(g) provides for disqualification of a member who has any share or interest in any work done by Panchayat’s order contract, directly or indirectly, by himself or through a partner.

The court said that the work done by the petitioner’s husband is labour work of cleaning drainage, and has to be assessed on a day-to-day basis by the panchayat. The court noted that the petitioner had no role in granting him the work as it is undertaken prior to her election.

The court opined that the payment to the husband is merely a consequence of his labour work at an earlier point of time and hence disqualification of petitioner under section 14(1)(g) of the Act is not attracted. Disqualification under Section 14(1)(g) has to be strictly construed, the court held.

Therefore, the court set aside the judgements of the District Collector and the appellate authority.

Case no. – Writ Petition No.7829 of 2022

Case Title – Mankarna w/o. Nagorao Kale v. State of Maharashtra