1 CGHC010292722026 2026:CGHC:32273 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPC No. 3954 of 2026 Sunita Sarthi W/o Vinod Sarthi Aged About 36 Years Presently Holding The Office Of Sarpanch, Gram Panchayat-Masturi, District-Bilaspur, C.G. ... Petitioner(s) versus 1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through The Secretary, Panchayat And Rural Development Department, Vikas Bhawan, Ground Floor, Sector-19, North Block, Atal Nagar, Raipur District Raipur C.G. 2 - Collector, District Bilaspur C.G. 3 - Sub-Divisional Officer, Masturi, District Bilaspur C.G. 4 - Secretary, Gram Panchayat- Masturi, District - Bilaspur C.G. 5 - Chief Executive Officer, Gram Panchayat- Masturi, District-Bilaspur, C.G. 6 - Chief Executive Officer, Janpad Panchayat - Masturi, District Bilaspur C.G. 7 - Chief Executive Officer, Zila Panchayat- Bilaspur District Bilaspur C.G. 8 - Rukmani Devi Singh, W/o Hirendra Singh, Aged 55 Years Presently Holding The Office Of Up-Sarpanch, Gram Panchayat - Masturi, District-Bilaspur, C.G. SHYNA AJAY Digitally signed by SHYNA AJAY Date: 2026.07.29 12:06:57 +0530 2 9 - Abhishek Maurya, S/o-Bhaiya Lal Maurya, Aged 32 Years, Presently Holding The Office Of Panch, Ward No.-1, Gram Panchayat-Masturi, District-Bilaspur, C.G. 10 - Sanjay Tiwari, S/o Munna Tiwari, Aged 35 Years Presently Holding The Office Of Panch, Ward No.-3, Gram Panchayat-Masturi, District-Bilaspur, C.G. 11 - Ankit Mishra, S/o Santosh Mishra, Aged 33 Years Presently Holding The Office Of Panch, Ward No.-4, Gram Panchayat-Masturi, District-Bilaspur, C.G. 12 - Kamlesh Awasthi, W/o Prakash Awasthi, Aged 40 Years Presently Holding The Office Of Panch, Ward No.-6, Gram Panchayat-Masturi, District-Bilaspur, C.G. 13 - Mahendra Ratre, S/o Madanlal Ratre Aged 40 Years Presently Holding The Office Of Panch, Ward No.-7, Gram Panchayat-Masturi, District-Bilaspur, C.G. 14 - Chitralekha Dhiraj, W/o Ravi Dhiraj, Aged 45 Years Presently Holding The Office Of Panch, Ward No.-8, Gram Panchayat-Masturi, District-Bilaspur, C.G. 15 - Nohar Lal, S/o Sukhru Ram, Aged 55 Years Presently Holding The Office Of Panch, Ward No.-9, Gram Panchayat-Masturi, District-Bilaspur, C.G. 16 - Kuldeep Kurre, S/o Ramesh Kurre, Aged 30 Years Presently Holding The Office Of Panch, Ward No.-14, Gram Panchayat-Masturi, District-Bilaspur, C.G. 17 - Jyoti Kurre, W/o Amar Kurre, Aged 33 Years Presently Holding The Office Of Panch, Ward No.-1, Gram Panchayat-Masturi, District-Bilaspur, C.G. 18 - Meena Kurre, W/o Kamal Kurre, Aged 55 Years Presently Holding The Office Of Panch, Ward No.-11, Gram Panchayat-Masturi, District-Bilaspur, C.G. 19 - Pinkki Kariyare, W/o Ramesh Kariyare, Aged 45 Years Presently Holding The Office Of Panch, Ward No.-13, Gram Panchayat-Masturi, District-Bilaspur, C.G. 20 - Rajeshwari Yadav, W/o Ganesh Yadav, Aged 60 Years Presently Holding The Office Of Panch, Ward No.-12, Gram Panchayat-Masturi, District-Bilaspur, C.G. 21 - Rekha Manikpuri, D/o Shivdas Manikpuri, Aged 45 Years Presently Holding The Office Of Panch, Ward No.-16, Gram Panchayat-Masturi, District-Bilaspur, C.G. 3 22 - Gajendra Rathore, S/o Ram Rathore, Aged 38 Years Presently Holding The Office Of Panch, Ward No.-15, Gram Panchayat-Masturi, District-Bilaspur, C.G. 23 - Sobha Soni, W/o Vinod Soni, Aged 55 Years Presently Holding The Office Of Panch, Ward No.-19, Gram Panchayat-Masturi, District-Bilaspur, C.G. 24 - Pankaj Nirmalkar, S/o Radhe Nirmalkar, Aged 42 Years Presently Holding The Office Of Panch, Ward No.-17, Gram Panchayat-Masturi, District-Bilaspur, C.G. ... Respondent(s) (Cause Title downloaded from CIS Periphery) For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Mateen Siddique, Senior Advocate with Mr. Abhiyuday Tripathi, Advocate For Respondent(s) : Mr. Shobhit Mishra, Dy. GA S B: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad Order on Board 28/07/2026 1. Heard. 2. By way of this petition, the petitioner seeks the following reliefs: 10.1 That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to call for the entire records of the case. 10.2 That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to quash the impugned notice16/07/2026 issued by the Sub-: Divisional Officer-Cum-Prescribed Officer, Masturi, District- Bilaspur, (Annexure-P/1). 10.3 That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to direct the respondent authorities to stop the no confidence motion 4 declaring it to be illegal as not being organized after following proper rules. 10.4 That this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to direct the respondents to hold an enquiry into the matter before summoning the meeting as to whether the allegations have any substance or not and the Panchas who have signed the application were under any threat or undue influence. 3. Learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner submits that the impugned notice dated 16.7.2026 of no confidence motion and the entire proceedings initiated thereunder against the elected Sarpanch are not in accordance with law. However, as the meeting of no confidence motion was convened on 27.7.2026, wherein an order was passed against the petitioner, the challenge to the notice dated 16.7.2026 and consequent proceedings has been rendered infructuous. 4. Considering the aforesaid aspects of the matter, this Court is of the view that the petitioner is not rendered remediless. The petitioner is granted liberty to prefer an appropriate appeal before the concerned Collector raising all the grounds available to him including those raised in this petition, keeping in view the provisions contained under Section 21 of the Panchayat Raj Adhiniyam 1993 as well as Rule 3(3) of the Chhattisgarh Panchayat (Gram Panchayat Ke Sarpanch Tatha Up-Sarpanch, Janapad Panchayat Tatha Zila Panchayat Ke President Tatha Vice-President Ke Virudh Avishwas Prastav) Niyam, 1994. 5 Thereafter, upon filing of such an appeal, the concerned Collector is directed to consider and decide the same in accordance with law expeditiously, taking into account that the petitioner is an elected Sarpanch removed through a no-confidence motion. 5. With the aforesaid observations/directions, the petition is disposed of. Sd/- (Amitendra Kishore Prasad) Judge Shyna Ajay