High Court quashes Jagan government’s G.O. No.2

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has quashed the State government’s G.O. Ms.No.2, through which some powers of the village administration were transferred to the Village Revenue Officers (VROs).

The High Court, which heard the case today, issued key orders to this effect. It is learned that Guntur District’s Turakapalem sarpanch T. Krishna Mohan had challenged the government’s decision. He argued that the G.O. was issued in violation of the Constitution and the spirit of Article 73 of the Constitution Amendment Act.

The High Court questioned how the powers of the Panchayat Sarpanch are given to the VROs. The HC, after considering the arguments of both, issued a decision to this effect. “While there is a system of gram panchayat offices and sarpanches, what is the point of setting up village secretariats in parallel,” the HC asked.

However, the government defended that the village secretariats with the functional assistants are only meant for effective implementation of various welfare schemes.