Chhattisgarh High Court: removing an elected Nagar Panchayat President isn't the same as challenging his election

Damodar Prasad Dubey, elected President of the Nagar Panchayat at Bilaigarh, was removed from office and disqualified for the next term by a State Government order under Section 41-A of the Chhattisgarh Municipalities Act, 1961, over alleged illegal land transactions and later conduct during his tenure, including refusing to let the Council proceed with a resolution on the matter. He argued the removal was really an indirect ruling on the validity of his election, which the Act allows to be challenged only through an election petition under Section 20, not through executive action. The High Court dismissed his writ petition.

It held Section 41-A gives the State Government an independent power to remove a sitting elected office-bearer whenever, in its opinion, his continuance is not desirable in the public interest or the Council's interest, or he is acting against the Act or its Rules; exercising that power does not amount to an adjudication on his election's validity under Section 20, since the two provisions operate on different grounds and at different times. The Court also noted that the material before the Government included not just the pre-election land dealings but the petitioner's own conduct after taking office, which was independently relevant to his fitness to continue. It left open the petitioner's separate statutory appeal against a related penalty order, while upholding the removal and disqualification.