Intent behind no-trust vote in civic bodies must: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court has held that the panchayat union council members have to submit a notice of intention along with a written statement in person to the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) if they want to initiate a no-confidence motion against their president.

Justice R Suresh Kumar ordered interim stay on the impugned notice issued by the RDO, Salem, to conduct the Panamarathupatti panchayat union council meeting scheduled on December 20 in compliance with Section 212 and Sub-section 2 of the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1994. K Jaganathan, president, Panamarathuppatti panchayat union council is the petitioner in the case. He prayed for a direction to quash a notification issued by the RDO citing it was against the TN Panchayats Act, 1944.

On recording the submissions, the judge held that as per the Act, three out of five members of the panchayat union council should have signed the notice of intention to make a no-confidence motion against the president. “Another written statement explaining the reason for the no-confidence move should also have been annexed. Two members who signed the letters should have visited the RDO in person and submitted those letters,” the judge noted.

The judge further stated that in the current case, the notice to make a no-confidence motion was sent on November 3 with only three members’ signatures and the reason for the no-confidence motion was sent on another date, November 15. “Therefore, the court has no hesitation to hold that, Section 212 (2) of the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1994 has been violated,” the judge ruled. The matter was adjourned for four weeks.