Shivani Gadhavi –
Published On: December 2, 2021 at 20:20 IST
On 1st December, 2021 the Gujarat High Court ordered the Sarpanch (Head) and the forerunner for the position of Sarpanch of Umralla Village of Bhavnagar District of Gujarat to be available in the Court on 2nd December, 2021 in contempt of court.
The Sarpanch and his forerunner Ghanshyamsinh Gohil were accused of not fulfilling the payment order passed by the High Court regarding the payment of INR 64 Lakh out of the ordered amount of INR 86 Lakh to sanitation workers.
The complaint was filed by Five sanitation workers and their descendants who sought actions being taken against the accused in contempt of court.
It was brought into the Court’s attention that the aforementioned sanitation workers out of whom son passed away during the course of the case, were not paid the Courts’ ordered amount by the village panchayat even after 32 years.
The Gujarat High Court Bench comprising of Chief Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Ashutosh Shastri warned both the accused to be prepared for jail-term if they do not pay the ordered amount to the sanitation workers.
The Chief Justice ordered the Panchayat’s counsel, “You ask them to come with two pair of clothes in a bag. Let him cool his heels for a couple of months.”
The Counsel for the Panchayat argued that the village panchayat has only INR 3 Lakh in its treasury and that the amount of INR 64 Lakh would not possible for it to pay in short period of time.
The Bench replied to this and stated, “This is about the dignity of the court. You beg or borrow You may kneel before the government. But you will have to pay. We are not concerned with the panchayat’s financial condition.”