Vineet Saran, J. - (1.) THE petitioner is the elected Pradhan of Gram Panchayat Bundra Kalan, Vikas Khand Jalilpur, district Bijnor. By means of the notice dated 11th October, 2007 issued by the District Magistrate, Bijnor, the petitioner was required to show cause with regard to the construction of additional class room made between 24.3.2006 to 31.7.2006 in which lintel of the said class room had cracked and the said lintel had been got dismantled by the petitioner without getting the same reconstructed. By the said notice, the petitioner was required to submit his reply, which was given by the petitioner on 31.10.2007, wherein it was stated that the defect in the construction was because of the mason who had constructed the room and on noticing the same, the petitioner had got it demolished and a fresh class room has already been constructed in which proper lintel is there and after having it plastered the same has also been white-washed. THEreafter, by means of the impugned order dated 11.4.2008, passed by the District Magistrate, the financial and administrative powers of the petitioner have been ceased. Aggrieved by the said order, this writ petition has been filed.
(2.) I have heard Sri K.R. Sirohi, learned Senior Counsel alongwith Sri Girish Kumar Yadav, learned Counsel appearing for the petitioner as well as learned Standing Counsel appearing for the respondents and have perused the record. Pleadings have been exchanged and with consent of the learned Counsel for the parties, this writ petition is being disposed of at this stage. The submission of the learned Counsel for the petitioner is that by means of the impugned order the reply to the show cause notice given by the petitioner has not been considered by the District Magistrate. The District Magistrate has not recorded any finding with regard to any irregularity in the construction of class room. He has also not discussed the explanation given by the petitioner and has merely stated that the same is not satisfactory, which would not be sufficient. It has also been submitted that the basis of passing the impugned order is some ex parte report submitted in an enquiry which was with regard to the toilets in the school, regarding which the petitioner was never given any show cause notice, and that there was no such charge in the show cause notice given to the petitioner. In the impugned order, what has been mentioned is that the petitioner was given a show cause notice for the cracks which had developed in the lintel of the additional class room which was got constructed in the year 2006 and had been demolished by the petitioner, the debris of which was lying in that area. Not a word with regard to the explanation given by the petitioner that the same has been got reconstructed by him, has been mentioned in the impugned order. Merely saying that the reply is not satisfactory, without discussing as to what was the reply and why it is not satisfactory, would not be sufficient. Besides this, the District Magistrate in his order has proceeded to consider some inspection which is said to have been made by the Zila Panchayat Raj Adhikari, Bijnoron 3.12.2007 and on 1.3.2008. Both these are subsequent to the issuance of the show cause notice. The alleged irregularities found at the time of such inspection were with regard to toilets in the school and it is stated that the lift pump was not operating and hence there was no water in the toilet and that inside wall of the toilets were not painted. The said inspection was conducted ex parte and no show cause notice was ever given to the petitioner with regard to such alleged irregularities. The contention of the petitioner is that the aforesaid grounds for withdrawal of the financial and administrative powers of the petitioner could not have been taken as no opportunity to show cause with regard to such alleged irregularities had been given to the petitioner and the District Magistrate should have confined himself to the grounds on which the show cause notice was issued, to which the petitioner had given satisfactory reply.
(3.) SUCH submission of the petitioner has force. It would have been a different case had the District Magistrate recorded any finding with regard to any deficiency in the reconstruction of the additional class room and that too after considering the specific reply of the petitioner that the class room had been reconstructed with a fresh lintel and the work had been carried out fully. No such finding has been recorded nor the reply with regard to the same dealt with. Withdrawal of financial and administrative powers of an elected Gram Pradhan is a very serious matter. SUCH action leads to grave consequences. The same cannot be treated in a casual manner as has been done in the present case. In case if such an action is to be taken by the administrative authorities, the same should be done so in a proper manner, after following the procedure prescribed. In the present case, no satisfaction can be said to have been recorded by the District Magistrate with regard to the alleged ground taken in the show cause notice. The petitioner did not have any opportunity to reply to the other grounds which formed basis of the impugned order. The inspections admittedly are of dates subsequent to the issuance of the show cause notice. If the District Magistrate gives show cause notice on one ground and proceeds to pass an order on some other ground, the very purpose of issuance of the show cause notice would frustrate. The same cannot be permitted. The purpose for giving show cause notice is that in case of any alleged irregularity, the concerned person may have an opportunity to give his reply. In the present case, the petitioner had given his reply which was confined to the grounds taken in the show cause notice. He was not expected to give explanation with regard to certain other, grounds which may have come to light subsequently. As such, the impugned order having been passed on the ground other than the one given in the show cause notice, for which the petitioner did not have any opportunity, would be liable to be set aside.;