HC quashes Punjab govt order removing Samana nagar council president

The Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed the removal of Samana nagar council president, citing lack of reasoning in the government's order and remanding for review.

The Punjab and Haryana high court quashed the Punjab government’s order removing the Samana nagar council president. A division bench comprising justice Harsimran Singh Sethi and justice Vikas Suri observed that the order issued by the department of local government was “totally cryptic and non-speaking”. The court noted that the order failed to provide reasoning for the president’s removal.

The petition was filed by Ashwani Gupta, challenging the October 21 order of the state government that removed him from the post (Representational Image)

The matter has now been remanded to the state government for passing a fresh order after examining “whether the resolution passed in the meeting – on the basis of which the petitioner is sought to be removed – was a valid meeting held as per the provisions of the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911, or not, and then only to decide whether the resolution of no-confidence motion passed in such meeting was in accordance with law”.

The petition was filed by Ashwani Gupta, challenging the October 21 order of the state government that removed him from the post. The court observed that since the petitioner had raised concerns about the validity of the meeting held on February 15, the state was required to consider those objections and provide reasoning if they were to be overruled. However, the order passed by the additional chief secretary showed that the objection was neither considered nor addressed, and no reasons were given for dismissing it, it added.