Jharkhand High Court
Anita Devi vs Rural Dev Dept on 20 March, 2013
Author: Aparesh Kumar Singh
Bench: Aparesh Kumar Singh
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
W.P.(C). No.5816 of 2012
Anita Devi .............. Petitioner
Versus
The State of Jharkhand & Ors. .............. Respondents
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CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE APARESH KUMAR SINGH
For the Petitioner : M/S Lina Shakti & Awanish Shekhar
For the Respondents : Mr. Rajiv Ranjan
...........
04/20.03.2013Heard counsel for the parties.
The petitioner, 'Adhyaksha' (Chairman) of the Zila Parishad, Palamau has sought direction upon the respondents including the Deputy Commissioner, Palamau to confer power and facilities, which are permissible under the Jharkhand Panchayati Raj Act, 2001 upon the 'Adhyaksha' of the Zila Parishad as in the absence of it the development works of the area are being hampered.
Counsel for the petitioner has relied upon the provisions of Section 47 and 73 of the Act of 2001 and submitted that the without the actual administrative and financial powers conferred upon the Zila Parishad and its chairman the whole purpose of ensuring hierarchy of democratic institutions till the grass root level as conceived under the Constitution vide 73 rd amendment would be rendered meaningless.
Counsel for the respondent- State has appeared and filed counter affidavit. Counsel for the respondent- State submits that conferring of powers upon the local bodies in furtherance of the objective of the 73 amendments introduced in the Constitution as also the law framed there under i.e. Jharkhand Panchayati Raj Act, 2001 are being progressively undertaken by devolution of powers upon such bodies from time to time. It is further submitted that vide notification dated 16.5.2011 the rights and duties of the elected office bearers in the Panchayat and the Zila Parishad have been framed under the Rules of 2011 and in order to implement the schemes by the three tier Panchayats, certain administrative power has been delegated vide memo no. 1344 dated 12.10.2011. As such, State is sincerely ensuring -2- the implementation of the constitutional as well as legal mandate and as a matter of fact by the resolution contained at Annexure-D to the counter affidavit the Zila Parishad has been empowered to grant administrative approval of work under its jurisdiction to the extent of 25 lakhs.
It, therefore, appears that the respondents have conferred administrative powers upon the members of the elected bodies like the 'Mukhia', Panchyat Samiti and Zila Parishad for discharging of administrative function for execution of the welfare schemes under their jurisdiction. In these circumstances, it appears that the grievances of the petitioner have been taken care of. However, if the concerned district authorities have not yet acted upon the resolution of the said notification as stated herein above , it would be open to the petitioner to approach the Deputy Commissioner, Palamau for the needful.
With the aforesaid observation, the writ petition is disposed of.
(Aparesh Kumar Singh, J.) A. Mohanty