- (1.) The matrix of the facts, culminating in the commencement, relevant for deciding the instant writ petition and emanating from the record, is that in the wake of general panchayat elections held in the month of December, 1994, the Petitioner was elected as Sarpanch of Gram Panchayat of village Rai, District Sonepat, under the provisions of the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 (hereinafter to be referred as "the Act"). Having successfully completed, his term expired in the month of March, 2000 when fresh elections were Held in the village and the seat of office of Sarpanch was reserved for ladies.
(2.) It was claimed that during his tenure as Sarpanch, Subha Chand and others filed a complaint against him on 7.6.1999 before the Deputy Commissioner, Sonepat, (Respondent No. 2), inter-alia on the grounds that he (Petitioner) carried out the development work in the village without approval and sanction from the competent authority and without following the due procedure. Thus, he was stated to have mis-appropriated the funds of the Gram Panchayat. The Respondent No. 2 sent the complaint to SDO (C) Sonepat (Respondent No. 3), who appointed the BDPO, Rai as Enquiry Officer and asked him to submit his report on the complaint, vide letter dated 14.10.1999 (Annexure PI). The BDPO conducted a detailed inquiry on the complaint, recorded the statements of the complainants, Petitioner and other persons, inspected the spot and record and submitted the inquiry report dated 18.10.1999 (Annexure P2) exonerating the Petitioner from the allegations alleged against him.
(3.) Sequelly, the Enquiry Officer (BDPO) submitted his report (Annexure P2) to the SDO (C) (Respondent No. 3), who accepted the report and found the allegations in the complaint alleged against the Petitioner, to be false and baseless and sent his report dated 30.11.1999 (Annexure P3) to the Deputy Commissioner (Respondent No. 2) in this regard.;