High-Handedness By State: Supreme Court Sets Aside Order Removing Chhattisgarh Woman Sarpanch From Office

The Supreme Court today set aside an order removing a woman Sarpanch from office in Chhattisgarh and directed enquiry into the officials who caused unwarranted harassment to her. The Court further imposed a cost of Rs.1 lakh on the state government.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan heard the matter, coming down heavily on the state for causing undue harassment to the elected woman Sarpanch, on the pretext of delay in construction work. The order was dictated thus:

"This is a case bordering high handedness on the part of the authorities in removing an elected sarpanch, who is a young woman who thought of serving her village in a remote area of State of Chhattisgarh. Instead of admiring her commitments or cooperating with her or extending a helping hand, what the appellant intended to do for development of her village, she has been wronged for absolutely uncalled for and unjustified reasons...Construction of works involves engineers, contractors and timely supply of material besides vagaries of weather...how can a Sarpanch be responsible for the delay in construction works unless it is found that there was a delay in allocation of work or performance of a specific duty assigned to the elected body...we are satisfied that initiation of proceedings was a lame excuse and the appellant has been removed from the office of Sarpanch on one or the other false pretext. The impugned orders are accordingly quashed. The appellant shall continue to hold the office of sarpanch of Gram Panchayat [...] till the completion of her term. Since appellant has been harassed and [subjected] to avoidable litigation, we award the cost of Rs.1 lakh to her which shall be paid within 4 weeks by the State of Chhattisgarh".

Further, the Court directed the Chief Secretary of Chhattisgarh to release the cost of Rs.1 lakh to the appellant within the stipulated period, and thereafter, hold an enquiry to find out the officers/officials responsible for her harassment. "The State shall be at liberty to recover the amount from such officers/officials in accordance with principles of natural justice", the Court added.

Briefly put, the appellant, a 27-year old woman, contested the election of Sarpanch of Sajbahar Gram Panchayat held in 2020. She was elected with a good margin. The Gram Panchayat was allocated some development works, including 10 construction works of roads, etc. A letter, purportedly issued on 16.12.2022 by the Chief Executive Officer to complete the works within 3 months, was served on the Gram Panchayat in March, 2023.

The appellant was accused of delay in the construction works. On 26.05.2023, she was issued a show cause notice and later tendered her explanation, denying any delay. However, she was removed from the office of Sarpanch in January, 2024. She approached the High Court for relief, but to no avail. Assailing the High Court's rejection of her prayers, she approached the Supreme Court.

After hearing the parties, the Supreme Court today granted the appellant relief. During the hearing, Justice Kant expressed that the CEO issued an arbitrary dictate, seemingly in absence of any technical knowledge about how much time it would have taken for completion of the construction works. The judge further called out the authorities' targeting of a woman Sarpanch who, believing in grassroot democracy, defied all odds to get elected as a Sarpanch and was working towards development of a rural area.

After dictation of the order, the counsel for respondents urged that the appellant was supposed to go before higher authorities. However, Justice Kant remarked, "That is what you want...You want a Sarpanch to go with a begging bowl before the babu...some clerk who has been promoted as CEO...".

Notably, earlier as well, the Court granted relief to a female Sarpanch of a village who was disqualified on technical grounds, raising concerns about the discriminatory attitudes which permeate through all levels of administration towards women representatives. The Court observed that a matter relating to removal of an elected representative should not be taken lightly, especially when it concerns women in rural areas.

Case Title: SONAM LAKRA Versus STATE OF CHHATTISGARH AND ORS., SLP(C) No. 7279/2024