Tue Oct 22 16:04:45 UTC 2024: Published – October 22, 2024 09:34 pm IST – THANJAVUR:The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court has said the State government was empowered to take action against erring local body representatives.Disposing of a writ petition seeking disqualification of the Chairman of Peravurani Town Panchayat by a registered contractor on grounds of large-scale defalcation of local body funds after an inquiry by the officials of the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department, which was challenged by the Town Panchayat Chairman on the grounds that government officials were not empowered to conduct any inquiry, Justice G.R. Swaminathan has held that the government has powers to take action against the erring local body representative under the Tamil Nadu Local Bodies (TNLB) Act, 1998.
When the Town Panchayat Chairman drew the Court’s attention towards the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Local Body Ombudsman (TNLBO) Act, 2014 that an ombudsman was alone empowered to look into these matters, the Court observed that the statutory scheme set out in the TNLBO Act would not displace or dislodge the power of the government to take action against the erring elected representatives of the local bodies under the TNLB Act.Since a serious allegation has been made against the Peravurani Town Panchayat Chairman, the Secretary, Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department, has been directed to issue a notice to the Chairman and take action as per law after getting necessary explanation.
Fixing a deadline of two weeks for issuance of notice to the Chairman from the date of receipt of the copy of the Court order by the Department Secretary and an equal period for responding to the notice by the Town Panchayat Chairman on receipt of the notice, the Court observed that the final order on merits would be passed within six weeks thereafter.Published – October 22, 2024 09:34 pm IST
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