Kerala government appeals High Court quashing delimitation
The govt stated that formation of new panchayats was strictly in accordance with the provisions of law
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-08-13 07:25 GMT
Kochi: The state government on Wednesday filed two separate appeals before Kerala High Court against the single bench orders setting aside the formation of 69 new grama panchayats and the bifurcation of Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode corporations to form new municipalities.
The government stated that formation of the new panchayats was strictly in accordance with the provisions of law. It held effective consultations with the existing panchayats as the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act empowers it to increase the areas of any grama panchayats or reduce their areas.
“The single judge ought to have construed the notification dated July 10 as having retrospective effect. No substantive right of any person is taken away. The single judge failed to note that even as per the final notification issued under section 4(1) of the Panchayat Raj Act, new panchayats are being constituted only with effect from November 1,” the appeal said.
In the second appeal, the government argued that there was absolutely no bar in converting the municipal corporation areas into a municipal council ward. “Wide power is conferred on the government to mark a particular area either as a smaller urban area or a larger one and form a municipal council or corporation for the areas. The single judge failed to consider the true scope of constitutional provisions in this regard, the petitioner said.