Supreme Court reinstates woman sarpanch, imposes Rs 1 lakh cost on Chhattisgarh for harassment

New Delhi: Coming down heavily on the Chhattisgarh government for removing an elected woman sarpanch of a remote village for "unjustified reasons," the Supreme Court on Monday observed the state wanted the village head to go with a "begging bowl before a babu (bureaucrat)".

A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on the state government to be released in four weeks to Sonam Lakra, the woman sarpanch of a village in Jashpur district, for the mental harassment she suffered.

"This is a case of high-handedness on the part of the authorities in removing an elected sarpanch, a young woman who thought of serving her village in a remote area of Chhattisgarh.

"Instead of admiring her commitments or cooperating with her or extending a helping hand in her endeavour for the development of her village, she was wronged for absolutely uncalled for and unjustified reasons," the bench said.

The top court termed the initiation of proceedings as a "lame excuse" for removing her from the post of sarpanch over a delay in the supply of construction materials and completion of construction work.

"Construction works involve engineers, contractors and timely supply of material besides vagaries of weather and therefore, how can a sarpanch be held 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 her."

"We are satisfied that initiation of proceedings was a lame excuse and the appellant was removed from the office of Sarpanch on the false pretext," the top court said in its order.

While quashing the removal order passed by the sub-divisional officer (revenue), the bench reinstated her to the post of sarpanch till the completion of her term.

"Since the appellant has been harassed and subjected to avoidable litigation, we award the cost of Rs 1 lakh to her which shall be paid within four weeks by the state of Chhattisgarh," the bench said.

It said the state is at liberty to collect the amount from the officers responsible for causing her harassment.

The top court also directed the chief secretary of the state to hold an inquiry and find out the officers/officials responsible for the harassment of the elected representative.

During the hearing of the matter, the top court warned the counsel for the state government for repetitive disruptions saying, "Don't force us to say something harsh."

The counsel submitted that the sarpanch had a remedy available to her and she could appeal against the order of removal before the collector.

"That is what you want. You (state) want a sarpanch to go with a begging bowl before the babu... who in some cases may have been promoted from the post of clerk," the bench observed.

It said the sub-divisional officer (revenue), who passed the arbitrary removal order, seemingly lacked the technical knowledge about how much time construction work takes.

On April 5, the top court, while issuing notice on the plea of Lakra challenging the February 29 order of the high court dismissing her petition against the removal order, directed for a stay on the direction removing her from the post of Sarpanch.

"Meanwhile, the operation of the impugned orders passed by the sub-divisional officer (revenue), Pharsabahar, district Jashpur, Chhattisgarh, removing the petitioner from the post of sarpanch, gram panchayat Sajbahar, as well as that of the high court, shall remain stayed.

"Resultantly, the petitioner shall be reinstated as the sarpanch of the gram panchayat and shall be allowed to perform her duties without any hindrance," the bench had ordered.

Lakra was elected as sarpanch of Sajbahar Panchayat in Jashpur district of the state in January 2020. Some complaints were received with regard to irregularity in the completion of the construction work.

On May 26, 2023, the sub-divisional officer (revenue) registered the case and issued a show-cause notice to her.

Lakra (27) filed a reply stating that the work was sanctioned vide order dated December 16, 2022, under the Rural Industrial Park (RIPA), but she received it from the secretary of the gram panchayat on March 21, 2023.

Therefore, it was not possible to complete the work in such a short span of time, she had said.

It was stated that during the pendency of the enquiry, the work was completed and the oral intimation was given to the authority concerned. However, on January 18, she was removed from the office of sarpanch on the charge that she could not complete the work.