Himachal Pradesh High Court
______________________________________________________________________ vs State Of Himachal Pradesh And Others on 20 May, 2016
Author: Ajay Mohan Goel
Bench: Ajay Mohan Goel
1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA
CWP No. 4164 of 2010
Reserved on : 19.05.2016
.
Date of Decision: 20.05.2016
______________________________________________________________________
Smt. Anita Devi ......Petitioner.
Vs.
State of Himachal Pradesh and others
.....Respondents.
of
Coram:
The Hon'ble Mr. Justice Ajay Mohan Goel, Judge
Whether approved for reporting?1 Yes.
For the petitioner: rt Ms. Anjali Soni Verma, Advocate.
For the respondents: Mr. V.S. Vhauhan, Addl. A.G., with Ms.
Parul Negi, Dy. A.G., for respondents
No. 1 to 4.
Mr. Bimal Gupta, Sr. Advocate, with
Mr. Vineet Vashistha, Advocate, for
respondent No. 5.
Ajay Mohan Goel, J. :
The present petition has been filed by the petitioner praying for the following reliefs:
"(i) That writ in the nature of certiorari may kindly be issued by quashing impugned order dated 16.06.2009, Annexure P-1 passed by the Learned Additional Deputy Commissioner, Kangra at Dharamshala, H.P. and order dated 23.06.2010, Annexure P-2, passed by the learned Divisional Commissioner, Kangra Division, Kangra at Dharamshala, being wrong and illegal.
Whether the reporters of the local papers may be allowed to see the Judgment? Yes.
::: Downloaded on - 15/04/2017 20:24:42 :::HCHP 2(ii) That the respondents may further be directed to allow the petitioner to work as Anganwari Helper in Anganwari Centre Chhamb.
(iii) That the respondents may very kindly be directed to produce the entire record pertaining to .
the case of the petitioner for the kind perusal of this Hon'ble Court.
(iv) That the petition may kindly be allowed with costs throughout.
(v) Any other order which this Hon'ble Court
of
deems just and proper in the facts and
circumstances of the case may also kindly be passed in favour of the petitioner."
2. rt The case of the petitioner is that she was appointed as Anganwadi Helper in Anganwadi Centre, Chhamb, District Kangra, H.P. in the year 2008. Her appointment was challenged by way of an appeal by respondent No. 5 before respondent No. 3. The orders impugned in the present writ petition are order dated 16.06.2009 (Annexure P-1) passed by respondent No. 3 and order dated 23.06.2010 (Annexure P-2) passed by respondent No. 2.
3. Vide impugned order dated 16.06.2009 passed by respondent No. 3, the appeal filed by private respondent Smt. Rekha Devi was allowed and the selection of petitioner has been set aside being against the Rules. Respondent No. 3 has set aside the selection of petitioner on the ground that as per statement of Panchayat Sahayak and as per the records, the family of the petitioner was entered in the parivar register Part-I at Sr. No. 60/1 of page No. 50 on 01.04.2007 and as such, at the time of selection, the petitioner did not belong to the Panchayat/feeding ::: Downloaded on - 15/04/2017 20:24:42 :::HCHP 3 area of the Anganwadi Centre for the selection which was against the guidelines issued by the Government of Himachal Pradesh, Department of Social Justice & Empowerment, dated 11th April, 2007. This order was challenged by the present petitioner by way of an appeal before .
respondent No. 2, which appeal has been dismissed on 23.06.2010 vide Annexure P-2. The appellate authority has held that the present petitioner's family shifted from their root family which is resident of Gram Panchayat, Rehlu and was entered as a separate family under Gram of Panchayat, Harchakian on 01.04.2007. It further held that it was clear that family of the present petitioner was included in Gram Sabha/Gram rt Panchayat, Harchakian after 01.04.2004, which is cut off date as prescribed in the Scheme/guidelines pertaining to the selection of Anganwadi Worker and accordingly her selection as Helper in Anganwadi Centre, Chhamb was in violation of the said Scheme. Accordingly, the appellate authority held that the present petitioner was not resident of feeding area where Anganwadi Centre, Chhamb falls. Accordingly, it upheld the order passed by respondent No. 3 and dismissed the appeal filed by the present petitioner. Feeling aggrieved by the said two orders, the petitioner has filed this petition.
4. Ms. Anjali Soni Verma, learned counsel for the petitioner has argued that the impugned orders are not sustainable in law because they are result of complete mis-reading of the Scheme/guidelines framed by the respondent-State for appointing Anganwadi workers. According to her, the cut off date of 01.01.2004 is relevant only for the purpose of determining the income of family and nothing more than that. Therefore, ::: Downloaded on - 15/04/2017 20:24:42 :::HCHP 4 according to her, the conclusions arrived at by respondents No. 2 and 3 that the petitioner was not belonging to the feeder area of the Anganwadi Centre concerned was incorrect and perverse. According to her, her family was registered in the parivar register maintained by the concerned .
Panchayat before the process was initiated in the year 2008 for appointment of Anganwadi Helper. Therefore, according to her, she belonged to the feeder area and was rightly selected as Anganwadi Helper at the first instance.
of
5. Learned Additional Advocate General and Mr. Bimal Gupta, learned Senior Counsel appearing for respondent No. 5, who has adopted rt the reply filed by the State on instructions, have supported the orders passed by respondents No. 2 and 3. According to them, the selection of the petitioner was rightly held to be bad by the said authorities because the petitioner was not eligible to be considered for being selected as Anganwadi Helper as she did not belong to the feeder area of the Anganwadi Centre concerned before the cut off date, i.e 01.01.2004.
6. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and also gone through the pleadings.
7. According to me, there is no force in the contention of the petitioner that the orders passed by respondents No. 2 and 3 setting aside her selection as Anganwadi Helper are bad in law.
8. Before proceeding further, it is pertinent to take note of the relevant scheme pertaining to the appointment of Anganwadi Helpers.
The scheme has been notified vide notification dated 11th April, 2007.
::: Downloaded on - 15/04/2017 20:24:42 :::HCHP 5Clause-4 of the Scheme is relevant for the purpose of adjudication of the present case, which is being quoted hereinbelow:
"4. Eligibility Criteria Only such female candidates are eligible to .
apply for the post of Anganwadi Worker or Helper who are:
(a) Resident of the village (in case of Rural Area)/ward (in case of Urban Area) where Anganwadi Centre is located or belongs to feeding villages/wards of the Anganwadi area;
of
(b) For Anganwadi worker minimum
qualification shall be Matric or equivalent and for Helper minimum Primary.
(c)
(d) rt Age between 21-45 years;
From whose family no one is in Government/Semi Government employment/service.
(e) Those belonging to a family which was legally separated as a separate family as per procedure laid down in the Panchayati Raj Act and Rules before 1st January, 2004.
(f) Those whose annual income does not
exceed Rs.8000 per annum to be
certified/countersigned by an officer not below the rank of Tehsildar."
9. Rule-21 of the Himachal Pradesh Panchayati Raj (General) Rules, 1997 deals with Pariwar Register and registration of births, deaths and marriages. The said Rule reads as under:
21. Pariwar Register and registration of births, deaths and marriages.-::: Downloaded on - 15/04/2017 20:24:42 :::HCHP 6
(1) After the Government has established a Sabha by a notification under sub-section(1) of section 3, a Pariwar Register shall be prepared for every Gram Sabha in Form-19 appended to these rules. It shall contain the names and particulars of all persons, .
family-wise, who are the bonafide residents of the village which forms part of the Sabha area. The register shall be prepared by the Panchayat Secretary and shall be verified by the Panchayat Inspector of the concerned Block.
of (2) At the close of each calendar year, the entries in the Pariwar Register, required to be prepared under sub-rule(1) shall be revised and all entries pertaining to births, deaths and marriages rt shall be made in the register which had taken place during the preceding year i.e. up to the 31st day of December. No other addition or alternation may be made without any authenticated evidence or certificate of the member of concerned constituency of the Gram Panchayat. In the event of division of the family, separation of family may only be entered in the Pariwar Register on the decision of the Gram Sabha by passing a resolution by majority in its general or special meeting on an application made by the head of family concerned. However, the Gram Sabha shall take into consideration the definition of the family as defined under clause (13-A) of section 2 of the Act while deciding the matter regarding division of family.
(3) The register shall be revised and brought upto-date under subrule(2) by 31st January of each year and public notice will be issued to the effect that -
::: Downloaded on - 15/04/2017 20:24:42 :::HCHP 7(a) the register has been revised and brought upto- date under sub rule(2);
(b) the register, as revised, is available for public inspection for a period of fifteen days(excepting the public holidays) between 10 AM to 5 PM in the office of .
the Gram Panchayat ;
(c) if any person has to make any objection with regard to any entry or any omission in the register, he may make the objection to that effect to the Secretary of the Gram Panchayat within the said of period of fifteen days. The notice shall be pasted in the office of the Gram Panchayat and other conspicuous places in a Gram Sabha area.
(4) rt The revised entries made in the register under sub-rule(2) and the objections received under sub-rule(3), shall be taken into consideration and disposed off and verified by the Panchayat Inspector after having given an opportunity of being heard to the person(s) concerned.
(5) The Secretary of the Gram Panchayat shall undertake registration of births and deaths in accordance with the provisions of the Registration of Births and Death Act, 1969 and rules made thereunder.
(6) The officer or employee of the Gram Panchayat, appointed as Registrar of Marriages, shall undertake registration of marriages in accordance with the provisions of the Himachal Pradesh Registration of Marriages Act, 1996 and the Himachal Pradesh Registration of Marriages Rules, 2004."
10. A perusal of the said Rule demonstrates that there is a detailed procedure laid down with regard to the entries to be made in the ::: Downloaded on - 15/04/2017 20:24:42 :::HCHP 8 parivar register which is to be maintained in the Panchayat and how said register is to be revised.
11. A perusal of the eligibility criteria laid down in Clause-4 will demonstrate that only such female candidates are eligible to apply for the .
post of Anganwadi Worker or Helper who are belonging to a family which was legally separated as a separate family as per procedure laid down in the Panchayati Raj Act and Rules before 01.01.2004.
12. Rule-21 of the Panchayati Raj Act deals with the of maintenance and revision of parivar registers by the Panchayat. There is a detailed procedure laid down in the said Rule as to how revision has to rt be made in the parivar register. Rule 21(2) provides that in the event of division of the family, separation of family may only be entered in the parivar register on the decision of the Gram Sabha by passing a resolution by majority in its general or special meeting on an application made by the head of family concerned. It is further mentioned that it shall be the duty of the Panchayat Inspector to verify these entries after satisfying himself about the reasons recorded by the Panchayat Secretary. He shall also put his initials on the goshwara prepared by Panchayat Secretary on Form 19-A. Rule 21(3) envisages that the register shall be revised and brought upto-date under sub rule (2) by 31st January of each year.
13. A perusal of the said provision makes it amply clear that revision of parivar register is a cumbersome process and the same is undertaken by complying with the procedural formalities which are envisaged in the Rules mentioned above. Therefore, the only prudent ::: Downloaded on - 15/04/2017 20:24:42 :::HCHP 9 conclusion which can be drawn with regard to a family being treated as separate family as per the said Rules is that a family can be treated as a separate family only after it is duly entered as such in parivar register after complying with all the procedural formalities contemplated in Rule .
21 (supra).
14. Now coming to the facts of the present case, it is apparent that the family of the petitioner was entered as a separate family in Gram Panchayat, Harchakian on 01.04.2007, meaning thereby that before of 01.04.2007 her family was not entered in the parivar register of Gram Panchayat, Harchakian at all. In this background, the question arises rt that what was the status of the family of the petitioner before 01.04.2007.
The answer is that before the said date, they were entered as a family in the parivar register of Gram Panchayat, Rehlu, as is evident from order dated 23.06.2010 passed by respondent No. 2. This aspect of the matter in fact has not been disputed even by the petitioner.
15. Now coming back to the eligibility criteria laid down in Clause-4 of the guidelines, in my considered view, here is a case where admittedly the family of the petitioner as on 01.01.2004 was not entered in the parivar register of Gram Panchayat, Harchakian, which is the feeder area for appointment of Anganwadi Helper in Anganwadi Centre, Chhamb, District Kangra, but her family was entered in the parivar register of Gram Panchayat, Rehlu. Thus, she was not eligible to be selected as Anganwadi Helper in Anganwadi Centre, Chhamb, District Kangra.
::: Downloaded on - 15/04/2017 20:24:42 :::HCHP 1016. Therefore, I do not find any merit in the present petition.
There is no infirmity or perversity with the orders, which have been passed by respondents No. 2 and 3 and in my considered view, the said authorities have rightly set aside the selection of the petitioner as .
Anganwadi Helper in Anganwadi Centre Chhamb, District Kangra, H.P. The writ petition is accordingly dismissed. No order as to costs.
(Ajay Mohan Goel) Judge of May 20, 2016 (bhupender) rt ::: Downloaded on - 15/04/2017 20:24:42 :::HCHP