Can't move no-trust motion against sarpanch within a year of election: Guj HC

The Gujarat High Court today ruled that a no-confidence motion cannot be brought against a sarpanch within a year of his or her election.

Also, if a no-confidence motion is defeated, another no-confidence motion can not be brought within a year of such a defeat, said a division bench of Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice V M Pancholi.

The court also ordered that for the taluka (tehsil) panchayat president, such a no-trust motion cannot be moved within six months of declaration of poll results.

While the tenure of a sarpanch is five years, that of a taluka panchayat president is two and a half years.

The high court, by today's ruling, set aside a notice for no-confidence motion against the sarpanch of Sankheda gram panchayat Shivangi Patel, and quashed an order of a single bench which had upheld the notice.

The state government had said the notice for no-confidence against Patel, brought immediately after she convened the very first meeting of the village body, was valid, as the Gujarat Panchayats Act, 1993 does not specify any time period for it.

But the high court disagreed.

"We deem it appropriate that reasonable time of one year should be considered as reasonable time, within which time, no motion could be permitted for removal of elected sarpanch by way of no confidence motion...from the date of declaration of (poll) result," the court stated in its order.

"Similarly, once, no confidence motion is moved and defeated, same cannot be permitted for a period of one year from the date of such defeat. So far as president of taluka panchayat is concerned... Same can be permitted to be moved only after six months from the date of defeat," the court said.

However, "competent authorities" can make suitable amendments to the Gujarat Panchayats Act, 1993 and make changes to these stipulations, the court said.

Petitioner Shivangi Patel had challenged the notice of no confidence motion against her.

On December 29, 2016, she was elected sarpanch. She held her first meeting on January 16, 2017, and on January 24, a no-confidence motion was moved against her by 11 out of 14 members.