Relief for former Merces sarpanch
OLD GOA: In a major relief to former Merces sarpanch Prakash Naik, the Principal District Judge, North Goa Sessions Court, B P Deshpande has granted stay on the order of the Director of Panchayat (DoP) who disqualified Naik as panch and also barred him from contesting panchayat elections for five years.
The stay was granted following Naik’s civil revision application filed in the court on November 18, a day after the DoP order.
In the application, Naik’s advocate prayed that the denial of right of member of panchayat is for reasons which are illegal and unsustainable in law. The advocate also prayed that the stay should be in force till the hearing and final disposal of the present revision application.
Judge Deshpande passed an order granting stay on his disqualification. “It appears that there is a valid ground for considering the matter on merits and since the revision is required to be decided on merits, impugned order is required to be stayed as otherwise the revision would become infractuous,” the Judge observed.
