The Punjab government, after finding itself under the scanner of the judiciary, has decided to undo its decision to dissolve gram panchayats in Punjab. The move came on Thursday morning and the administration withdrew the notification later in the day. By the evening of 31 August, the government ordered the suspension of two Senior IAS officers—both of whom worked in the same department.
The suspension of the two senior IAS officers of the Punjab government from the same department followed the withdrawal of the notification of dissolution of Panchayats. The order of suspension states, “Sh. Dhirendra Kumar Tiwari, IAS (1994) Principal Secretary, Water Supply & Sanitation and Financial Commissioner, Rural Development & Panchayats and Sh. Gurpreet Singh Khaira, IAS (2009) Director, Rural Development & Panchayats and ex-officio Special Secretary, Department of Rural Development & Panchayats and Mission Director, Mahatma Gandhi Sarbat Vikas Vojna (MGSVY) are placed under suspension with immediate effect, in terms of provisions of Rule 3 (1) of The All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules 1969.”
Notably, while appearing before a bench headed by Chief Justice Ravi Shanker Jha on Thursday morning, Punjab Advocate-General Vinod Ghai submitted that the notification would be withdrawn in the next couple of days. Further, during the hearing of a related matter, the state government had earlier defended its decision. It had, among other things, stated that the notification on dissolving gram panchayats was in accordance with constitutional provisions.
In an affidavit issued by his office, Director of Rural Development and Panchayat Gurpreet Singh Khaira had stated that the state government wielded the power to direct the holding of elections for Panchayati Raj Institutions under Section 209 of the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994. The notification, issued in accordance with the statutory provisions, declared the elections for panchayat samitis and zila parishads by 25 November and for gram panchayats by 31 December. The affidavit added the State Election Commission required time to prepare for elections, including various related activities such as revising electoral rolls, setting up polling booths, coordinating with law enforcement, and other essential arrangements. The Bench was also told that an election to constitute a panchayat must be completed before its duration expiry and “before the expiration of a period of six months from the date of its dissolution”.
As such, “the notification dated 10 August has been issued strictly in accordance with the constitutional provision. The term of gram panchayats has been taken from the date of its first meeting––10 January 2019, and these have been dissolved on 10 August within six months before the expiry of the term”.
The court was hearing a petition by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Gurjeet Singh Talwandi, who had challenged the state government’s notification. After the proceedings, Talwandi’s counsel Baltej Singh Sidhu told reporters that the AG had submitted before the High Court that the state government would be withdrawing the notification to dissolve the gram panchayats. There are 13,241 gram panchayats, 152 block samitis and 22 zila parishads in Punjab.
