Ganjam: A sarpanch from Ganjam district was disqualified from his post for not knowing Odia and having two wives and six children.
Coincidentally, the judgment came Friday when Panchayatiraj Divas was being observed across the state.
According to a source, P Simadri was elected as the sarpanch of Agastinuagam gram panchayat under Chhatrapur block in Ganjam district during the panchayat polls held in 2017. He had defeated his nearest rival Niwasi Gouda.
Pleading for his disqualification as the sarpanch of Agastinuagaon panchayat, Gouda had filed a petition at the Civil Judge Senior Division Court in Chhatrapur. He had cited the grounds like him not knowing Odia language, having two wives and six children in the petition.
The 1994 Odisha Gram Panchayat Act clearly mentions that a person is ineligible of holding any position in a gram panchayat if he or she does not know how to write and speak Odia, have more than two children and has more than one husband/wife.
The petition was heard Friday. After the judgment was pronounced, Gouda’s lawyer Srikant Mishra informed that the Chhatrapur Civil Judge Senior Division disqualified the standing sarpanch Simadri for not knowing Odia.
“The district Collector has also been directed to take further action in this regard,” he added.
A visibly satisfied, Gouda termed the decision as his winning a three-and-a-half year’s long legal battle.
PNN