OLD GOA
Four aggrieved panchas of Siridao have filed a writ petition in the high court, challenging the order of the Additional Director of Panchayats regarding the no-confidence motion against Siridao Sarpanch Jagdish Gauns.
The four panchas -- Deputy Sarpanch Melanie D’Souza, Antonio Afonso, Vasudev Kunkolienkar and Camilo Marques -- claimed that the Additional Director of Panchayats passed the order without following norms of natural justice and giving interim relief to a 3-member minority panel.
The matter will come up for hearing in the High Court on Thursday, in which the State of Goa, Sarpanch Jagdish Gauns, panchas Kush Palkar and Nutan Shirodkar, Siridao VP through its secretary, Tiswadi BDO, BDO Observer Basilo Pires and Additional Director of Panchayats are made the respondents.
The four panchas had moved a no-confidence motion against Siridao sarpanch Jagdish Gauns and the motion had to be convened outside the panchayat as the police did not allow entry inside the panchayat over a complaint of attempted burglary.
In the motion, all the four panchas present voted in favour thereby ousting Gauns by 4-0 votes.
But Sarpanch Gauns along with two panchas Nutan Shirodkar and Kush Palkar filed a petition with the Additional Director of Panchayats Umakant Korkankar challenging the proceedings of the no-confidence motion.
Korkankar later suspended the resolution adopted by granting an ex-parte stay on July 4, before sending the file to the secretary (panchayats) for further action in the matter.
