Allowed

Anand Singh Tomar v. State Of Uttarakhand and Others

Uttarakhand HC2 Apr 2019WPMS/1039/2018

Download

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

The Single Judge observed that the State Government had issued a Gazette Notification upgradin,

What did the court decide?

Direction to the State Government to issue a formal declaration converting Gram Panchayat Dandhera into Nagar Panchayat within two months from the date of the order.

What the court decided

Anand Singh Tomar Vs State Of Uttarakhand… — Municipal and Town Planning | Uttarakhand HC (2019)

¶1

IN THE HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND AT NAINITAL

¶2

Writ Petition (M/S) No. 1039 of 2018

Anand Singh Tomar

...Petitioner

Vs.

State of Uttarakhand & Others

¶7

...Respondents

¶8

Mrs. Neetu Singh, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. M.C. Pandey, Additional Advocate General along with Mr. Devesh Ghildiyal, Advocate for the State of Uttarakhand.

¶9

JUDGMENT

¶10

Hon’ble Sharad Kumar Sharma, J (Oral)

¶11

This writ petition has been preferred by the petitioner who claims himself to be a social worker in a representative capacity in order to redress the grievance of the villagers for the purposes of declaration of the revenue village Gram Dandhera into a Nagar Panchayat owing to its development made with passage of time and being adjoining to an urbanized area.

¶12

The contention of the petitioners as per the pleadings of the writ petition is to the effect that for the purposes of declaration of Gram Panchayat of Village Dandhera into an upgraded local body as Nagar Panchayat Town area, the stipulations are contained under Article 243 Q of the Constitution of India, which is to be read with Section 3 of the Municipal U.P. Municipal Act 1916. The argument as extended by the learned counsel for the petitioners is that the area governing the parameters for the determination criteria for upgradation of a Gram Panchayat area into a Nagar Panchayat area or any upgraded urbanized area is provided under the Government Order No. 6250/9-1-8677(lk)3/82 dated 10.09.1986. This Government Order which constitutes to be a law and will fall to be within the purview of Article 13 of the Constitution of India would be enforceable by invoking the writ jurisdiction of this Court for the reason that it aims to meet the constitutional objective of establishment of the upgraded municipal areas in terms of the provisions contained under Article 243

¶13

¶14

Q of the Constitution of India and, thus it would be enforceable by the writ courts.

¶15

This catastrophic controversial situations with regards to issuing specific direction for notifying the Gram Panchayat into Nagar Panchayat area may not be so vital in the present case for the reason that on the representation of the people of the village Gram Panchyat, Dandhera, the recommendations have already been made by the Secretary, Urban Development vide his Office Memorandum No. 1168/IV(3)/2016/2016 to District Magistrate, wherein the request was made on the basis of the criteria laid down in the Government Order of 10.09.1986 as referred above. Based on the recommendations as forwarded by the Secretary, Urban Development of the District Magistrate on 26.07.2016, the State Government has alreaedy issued a Gazette Notification being Gazette Notification No. 55/IV(3)/2017(2) (Nagar Palika/2016) dated 03.01.2017, whereby, the Governor while exercising his powers under Section 3(1) of the U.P. Municipalities Act, 1916 read with Article 243 Q part 2 had already notified the creation of village Dandhera as Nagar Panchayat in terms of the mandate of the constitution. This notification dated 03.01.2017 has not yet been given a final shape by issuing an official declaration declaring the Gram Panchayat, Dandhera as Nagar Panchayat, Dandhera, in the light of the recommendations made by the Secretary, Urban Development as well as the State itself by the issuance of the notification dated 03.01.2017.

¶16

It is not in dispute also that looking to the topography of the village, its locat6ion, its population, its urbanized character, the village Dandhera in question which adjoins an urbanized area is in the gradual process of its economic upgradation and thus it fulfills the norms pertaining to the amenities which are expected to be provided to the residents of the developed or semi developed area, and as such there happens to be apparently no legal embargo as such as to why the respondent State has delayed the decision making process despite of the issuance of the Gazette Notification by the Governor on 03.01.2017.

¶17

¶18

Though under the constitution particularly as per the provisions contained under part-III which deals with the Fundamental Rights, though in its specific terms does not provide for a right of development as a fundamental right but under the growing economic system and as per the requirement of the present time, each citizen as defined under Article 5 of the Constitution of India has got a right of development to ensure to avail a better amenities to life as contemplated by the notifications governing the upliftment of the urbanized area and semi urbanized area, semi developed area or developed area into larger municipalities or local bodies as per Article 243 C, which deals with composition of Panchayats and Nagar Panchayats under Article 243 Q (a) of Constitution of India.

¶19

Considering the aforesaid interest of the people at large and considering the fact that the decision pertaining to the upliftment of Gram Dandhera into Nagar Panchayat had already been recommended by the Secretary Urban Development, it is expected that the State ought to have taken a decision within a reasonable time, but could not have sat over the issue of declaration for over more than two years and no decision has been taken on the gazette notification issued by the Government on 03.01.2017, in principle approved upliftment of Gram Sabha, Dandhera into Nagar Panchayat, which depicts a very sorry state of affairs as to the manner in which the determination of area into an urbanized developed area is being delayed on account of the political considerations which even play a pre-dominant role in enforcing the Government orders issued by the State.

¶20

In view of what has been observed above and since only a formal declaration is left to be made by the State Government after the gazette notification of the Government 03.01.2017, this writ petition is being disposed of with a direction to respondent no. 1 to make an appropriate declaration in the light of the provisions contained under Article 243 (C) (Q) r/w Section 3(1) of the Municipalities Act, 1916, and considering the gazette notification

¶21

¶22

dated 03.01.2017. It is hope and trusted that the State would take the decision for declaration of Nagar Panchayat within a reasonable time but under no circumstances later than two months from the date of production of the certified copy of the order.

¶23

Subject to the above observation, the writ petition stands

¶24

disposed of.

¶25

(Sharad Kumar Sharma, J.) 02.04.2019

¶26

Pooja

Anand Singh Tomar v. State Of Uttarakhand and Others

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

Anand Singh Tomar v. State Of Uttarakhand and Others

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

A compact analysis

Issues for consideration

Statutes considered

Parties & counsel

Coram

Case details

Similar cases

Indian School Society Vs State Of Uttarakhand and Others

Virendra Dhiman Vs Chief Information Commissioner Uttarakhand and Others

Balvinder Singh Vs State Of Uttarakhand and Others

Moon Tour And Travels Vs State Of Uttarakhand and Others

Rizwan Ahmad and Others Vs State Of Uttarakhand and Others

Smt. Manjira Devi Shikshan And Prashiksha Samiti and Another Vs All India Council For Technical Education and Others