Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court issued an order on Friday, February 14, suspending a July 2024 Gazette Notification that sought to bifurcate Kurmapally Village from the Ramachandrapuram Gram Panchayat in Saidapur mandal, Karimnagar district.
Justice T Madhavi Devi, while issuing the order, emphasized that the government cannot bifurcate a village without providing a rationale or justification for such action.
The bifurcation was challenged through a writ petition, where the petitioners argued that creating a new gram panchayat from a lesser-populated village requires a minimum distance of 2 kilometres between the existing and proposed gram panchayats.
In this case, however, the distance was only 500 meters, and despite a population of 751, the quorum for the Gram Sabha was not met as only 127 members attended.
Furthermore, they pointed out that the resolution of the Gram Sabha and the videography of its proceedings were not recorded or uploaded as mandated by procedure.
The government’s defense cited the New Panchayat Raj Act 2021, which states that it is not necessary for Gram Sabhas to be constituted or for resolutions to be passed for village bifurcation.
In response, Justice Madhavi Devi questioned why a Gram Sabha was conducted if it wasn’t required.
She concluded that the government’s decision to bifurcate the village lacked reasonable cause and thus ordered its suspension.
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