The apex court has set a three-month deadline for the high court to resolve the legal issue.
New Delhi, April 3: The Supreme Court has directed the Manipur High Court to decide whether gram panchayat members in the state, whose five-year term has ended, can continue in their positions when an administrative committee or administrator is appointed.
The apex court has set a three-month deadline for the high court to resolve the legal issue.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh said,
“The question that falls for consideration in this case is that whether the elected member of the Gram Panchayat whose five-year tenure is over was entitled to continue as members of the gram panchayat in the event of appointment of administrative committee or administrator, as contemplated under Section 22 of the Manipur Panchayati Raj Act of 1994.”
Background
The Manipur government’s counsel informed the Supreme Court that panchayat elections could not be conducted due to severe violence in the state.
Since the Supreme Court wanted to have the opinion of the Manipur High Court on the matter, it disposed of the special leave petition. The court directed the chief justice of the Manipur High Court to assign the case to a division bench for early resolution.
“Since, we would like to have the advantage of the opinion of the high court, we dispose of the special leave petition without expressing any opinion on merits, with the request to the chief justice of Manipur High Court to post the main case before a division bench at the earliest. We further request the division bench, before whom the matter is listed, to provide expeditious hearing with an endeavour to resolve the controversy within three months,” the bench said.
The Supreme Court noted that the Manipur Panchayati Raj Act was amended, replacing the word “cease” with “continue” in reference to the tenure of elected gram panchayat members.
The petitioners, who had challenged a high court order, argued that gram panchayat elections had not been held for various reasons. Therefore, they contended that previously elected members should continue in their roles as per the amended Section 22(3) of the 1994 Act.
Under Section 22 of the Manipur Panchayati Raj Act, the deputy commissioner has the power to appoint an administrative committee or administrator for six months to oversee the election process. However, Section 22(3) states that once an administrator is appointed, the elected gram panchayat members lose their positions.
The Supreme Court clarified that the matter before it was an interlocutory order from the high court, and the main petition addressing the legal issue was still pending.
The petitioners, who were elected in the fifth general elections for gram panchayats and zilla parishads, sought permission to continue in office beyond the stipulated five-year term since elections were last held in 2017. They argued that they should remain in their posts until the State Election Commission conducted the sixth general elections.
On February 29 last year, the Manipur High Court issued an interim order allowing the state government to appoint an administrative committee for each gram panchayat and zilla parishad in accordance with the law.
