E-Paper
Odisha sarpanch disqualified by court for keeping 2 wives, lack of Odia skills
P Simadri was elected as the sarpanch of Agastinuagam gram panchayat under Chhatrapur block of Ganjam in the 2017 polls.
A sarpanch in Odisha's Ganjam district lost his post after a court disqualified him over charges that he did not know Odia, and had two wives and six children, all of which makes him ineligible under the Odisha Gram Panchayat Act, 1994.
P Simadri was elected as the sarpanch of Agastinuagam gram panchayat under Chhatrapur block of Ganjam in the 2017 polls. Simadri defeated his nearest rival Niwasi Gouda. After losing the polls, Gouda had lodged a case against Simadri before the court of civil judge (senior division) in Chhatrapur alleging that his opponent did not know how to write or speak in Odia, had two wives and six children.
Gouda lawyer, Srikant Mishra, said civil judge senior division Santosh Panigrahi passed the order disqualifying Simadri as he violated several provisions of the Odisha Gram Panchayat Act, 1994. The court relied on the depositions of four witnesses in the case.
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Ironically, the order came on the day of late chief minister Biju Patnaik's birthday which is celebrated as the panchayatiraj divas. Former chief minister Biju Patnaik had introduced 33 per cent reservation for women in panchayatiraj bodies during his tenure.
In 1994, his government had brought an amendment to the Odisha Gram Panchayat Act, ensuring that a person can not contest for the post of sarpanch if he/she can't read or write in Odia, has more than two spouses at a time and more than two children.
In 2019, a woman in tribal-dominated Kandhamal district had lost her post as the chairperson of panchayat samiti after a court ruled that she was ineligible. Subhranti Pradhan, chairperson of the Daringibadi panchayat samiti in Kandhamal district and wife of sitting BJD MLA was declared ineligible for having two children.
