New Delhi: The Supreme Court has referred to the Manipur High Court the question of whether gram panchayat members in the state can continue in office after their five-year tenure ends, in cases where an administrative committee or administrator is appointed.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh on Thursday stated that the apex court would await the high court’s view on the matter and set a three-month deadline for adjudication.
“The issue for consideration is whether elected gram panchayat members, whose five-year term has expired, are entitled to continue in office upon the appointment of an administrative committee or administrator under Section 22 of the Manipur Panchayati Raj Act, 1994,” the bench observed.
The Manipur government’s counsel argued that the state was unable to conduct panchayat elections due to ongoing violence.
Given the circumstances, the Supreme Court decided not to express an opinion on the matter and instead directed the chief justice of the Manipur High Court to list the case before a division bench at the earliest.
The apex court also urged the division bench to expedite hearings and resolve the issue within three months.
The Supreme Court noted that an amendment to the Manipur Panchayati Raj Act replaced the term “cease” with “continue” concerning the tenure of elected gram panchayat members.
The petitioners, challenging a high court order, contended that since elections had not been held for various reasons, the existing panchayat members should be allowed to remain in office under the amended Section 22(3) of the Act.
Section 22 grants the deputy commissioner the power to appoint an administrative committee or administrator for six months to oversee the election process.
However, under Section 22(3), once such an appointment is made, the tenure of previously elected gram panchayat members is legally terminated.
The Supreme Court emphasised that the case before it involved an interlocutory order of the high court and that the core legal question remained pending in the main petition.
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The petitioners, who were elected in the fifth general elections for gram panchayats and zilla parishads, sought permission to remain in office beyond their five-year tenure, as elections have not been held since 2017.
They argued that their tenure should be extended until the state election commission conducts the next round of elections.
On February 29 last year, the Manipur High Court, in an interim order, granted the state government the liberty to appoint an administrative committee for each gram panchayat and zilla parishad as per legal provisions.
