42 0088..0077..22002266 Ct. No.15 b.das WPA 15539 of 2026 Anikul Hoque Vs. The State of W. B. & Ors. Mr. Subir Sanyal, Sr. Adv. Mr. Anindya Ghosh Mr. Souvik Das Mr. S. Mukherjee …for the petitioner. Mr. Sarwar Jahan Ms. Shalini Sen Ms. Sahina Parvin ..for the respondents. Mr. D. N. Ray Mr. Madhu Jana Ms. Puja Sonkar …for the State. Affidavit of service filed by the petitioner and report submitted by the State are taken on record. The petitioner who is the Pradhan of Sripur-II Gram Panchayat has assailed the requisition notice dated 19th June, 2026 and the notice issued under sub-rule 2 of Rule 5B of the West Bengal Panchayat (Constitution) Rules, 1975 on 29th June, 2026 on several grounds. First, the notice has not been served upon the Pradhan at the Panchayat office in terms of Section 12(2) of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973. Second, the date of meeting has been fixed beyond the statutory period of 15 working days as laid down under Section 12(4) of the Act. Third, the Prescribed Authority has not satisfied himself that the motion conforms to the requirements of sub-section 2 before convening the 2 meeting. Fourth, the Pradhan has submitted a representation under Section 11(1)(d) of the Act against 9 out of 10 requisitionists seeking their removal due to their absence in three consecutive meetings of the Panchayat despite service of notice upon them. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that if the 9 requisitionists are removed from the membership of the Panchayat, the requisition notice shall fall short of the required majority. It is submitted on behalf of the requisitionists and also appears from the report submitted by the State that the requisition notice was served upon the Pradhan/petitioner at the Panchayat office on 22nd June, 2026. The Prescribed Authority convened the meeting upon being satisfied that the motion conformed to the requirements of sub-section 2. The date of the meeting has been fixed on 13th July, 2026 by a notice issued on 29th June, 2026, clear 7 days’ time have been granted between issuance of the notice and the date of meeting. Also, the meeting is scheduled to be held on 13th July, 2026, that is, within 15 working days of receipt of the motion. It is a fact that a representation submitted by the Pradhan for removal of 9 members/requisitionists is pending before the Prescribed Authority. In this regard, this Court is tempted to place reliance on the authority in Ujjal Mondal Vs. State of West Bengal 3 reported in (2013) 1 CHN 458 wherein an Hon’ble Division Bench of this Court has observed that it is a basic principle of law that punishment in the nature of disqualification cannot be imposed by debarring somebody to exercise his power as a member or to exercise his rights and responsibilities as a member, so long no order of disqualification is passed. If the members against whom complaints are pending are debarred to bring requisition notice, the consequential effect would be that disqualification clause is being imposed upon them prior to adjudication of complaints seeking disqualification, which under the law is not permissible. In view thereof, this Court is inclined to hold that since the representation submitted by the Pradhan for removal of some of the private respondents is still pending and the private respondents have not been removed from the membership of the Panchayat, they are not debarred from bringing the requisition notice seeking removal of the Pradhan. In the light of the observation made hereinabove, this Court is of the view that the allegations raised by the petitioner have not been substantiated. The requisition notice as well as the notice of meeting are in accordance with Section 12 of the Act of 1973 and do not call for interference by this Court. The writ petition is devoid of any merit and is accordingly dismissed. 4 Since the notice of meeting has been fixed by the Prescribed Authority on 13th July, 2026, the Inspector in Charge, Pukuria Police Station, being the 10th respondent herein, is directed to render necessary assistance to the Prescribed Authority so that the meeting is held peacefully and without any disturbance from any corner whatsoever. There shall, however, be no order as to costs. Since no affidavit is invited, the allegations contained in the writ petition are deemed not to have been admitted. Urgent certified website copy of this order, if applied for, be supplied to the parties upon compliance with all requisite formalities. (Suvra Ghosh, J.)