BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has come down heavily on Panna District Collector Sanjay Mishra for declaring a losing candidate in last month’s panchayat elections as the winner.
“He’s acting as a political agent, he’s not fit to be a collector,” the HC said.
“He (Panna district collector) has no regard for principles of natural justice, this man should be removed from the post of district collector,” Justice Vivek Agarwal observed on Wednesday while hearing a petition on the Gunnor Janpad Panchayat in Panna district polls.
At least 312 Janpad Panchayats elected chairperson and vice-chairperson on July 27 and 28. The 25-member Gunnor Janpad Panchayat voted to elect chairperson and vice-chairperson on July 27.
In the vice-chairperson poll, Congress-backed Parmanand Sharma defeated Ramshiromani Mishra, supported by BJP, by winning 13 out of 25 votes.
The presiding officer, Ram Niwas Choudhary, even issued the certificate to Sharma.
Asserting that principles of natural justice were not followed while the decision on the janpad panchayat poll was taken, the High Court served notice to Collector Sanjay Kumar Mishra.
"It is submitted that principles of natural justice were not followed. Collector Sanjay Kumar Mishra acted as a political agent of the ruling party. He did not act independently and the Election Commission should have removed him from the post of District Returning Officer," the HC said in its order on Wednesday.
"Since serious allegations have been made against respondent number 1 (the district collector), this court directs to implead Sanjay Kumar Mishra as a party by name.
Let notice be issued to the collector to explain his conduct," it said.
Justice Vivek Agrawal, in his order said, the collector must explain why shouldn't a recommendation be made that no sensitive matter like election petitions of elections in the future be handed over to him.
The HC was hearing a petition filed by one Parmanand Sharma, who in his plea through senior advocate Manoj Sharma, had contended that he had won the post of vice president of janpad panchayat Gunnour by securing 13 out of 25 votes in polls held on July 27.
He was also issued the winning certificate, but on the same day, losing candidate Rmashiromani Mishra filed an election petition before the collector, who annulled the poll result, Sharma's plea said.
Meanwhile, the State Election Commission counsel Siddharth Seth said the collector had passed the order in his capacity as 'prescribed authority under MP Panchayat Raj Avam Gram Swaraj Adhiniyam and not as district election officer under the State Election Commission.
Therefore, the SEC had no role in the matter, Seth told the court.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is the ruling party in the state.
(With PTI Inputs)