PANJIM: The special meeting of Salvador do Mundo village panchayat has now been reconvened on Monday, July 31, to discuss the no-confidence notice tabled against deputy sarpanch Dattaram Redkar after the five signatories approached the High Court of Bombay at Goa.
The five panchayat members had approached the High Court seeking directions of the Bardez Block Development Officer (BDO) to convene the special meeting after the meeting called on July 20 was adjourned as the panchayat secretary Amit Prabhu abstained. A few hours before the scheduled meeting, Prabhu sent an email stating that he won’t be able to attend his office duties from today i.e. July 20, 2023 as he was not keeping well. He stated that he will submit his sick leave application when he joins regular duties.
During the hearing the Division Bench comprising Justice Mahesh S Sonak and Justice B P Deshpande observed the email sent by Prabhu was not accompanied by any medical certificate.
Prabhu who was present in the Court on Wednesday did not make any alternate arrangement, inspite of knowing the fact that a motion of no-confidence was to take place on the said day.
“While we propose to grant a full opportunity to Prabhu for his defence, at least, prima facie, we cannot expect such conduct on behalf a government servant. A government servant is expected to be neutral in such matters and not assist one party or the other. Prima facie, we are not sure whether Prabhu’s so-called sickness was genuine or whether it was for scuttling the democratic process. However, we propose to grant full opportunity for his defence before deciding the course of conduct adopted by him in the matter,” the Court said.
