SC upholds panchayat's rights

CANDOLIM: In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court has passed an order upholding the right of the panchayat to formulate its own programmes of economic development and social justice on an appeal filed by the Calangute panchayat.
Talking to TOI on Wednesday, former sarpanch Joseph Sequeira, who was instrumental in filing the appeal in the SC, said, "The apex court has held that the framers of the Constitution had envisaged village panchayats to be the foundation of the country's political democracy - a decentralized form of government where each village was to be responsible for its own affairs.
Describing the sequence of events that led to the court battle, Sequeira said that in 2006 the Calangute panchayat had granted permission to a builder for a construction at Porbavaddo, Calangute. The Calangute panchayat passed a resolution in March 2008 for revocation of the occupancy certificate, following objections from some locals that the builder had blocked access to a common well and chapel.
In March 2009, the panchayat passed another resolution revoking the earlier permission. Subsequently, the builder filed an appeal before the additional director of panchayats. In February, 2010, the additional director of panchayats passed a final order directing the panchayat to reconsider the application of the company for grant of permission to use the property as a guest house. The panchayat challenged this order in the high court. However, the high court rejected the panchayat's petition and the matter went before the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court has stated that the high court shall now issue notice to the respondents and decide the writ petitions on merits.