Women representatives in elected bodies – Prejudicial treatment at all levels of administrative functioning, deprecated – Allegations made by the private respondents as regards encroachment of government land by the appellant, a female Sarpanch – Mechanical orders passed by authorities, appellant removed from office – Removal affirmed by High Court – Justification:
Held: There is no credible and convincing material on record to substantiate the allegations of encroachment of government land by the appellant before or post her election as Sarpanch – Nature of allegations and the consequential removal from the office of Sarpanch, highly disproportionate – Matter of removal of an elected public representative should not be treated so lightly, especially when it concerns women belonging to rural areas – Impugned order set aside – Appellant to continue and perform the duties of Sarpanch of the Gram Panchayat till the completion of her tenure. [Paras 10-12]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Divya Pandey. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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