HC sets aside removal of Barnala MC president, finds no abuse of power in salary loan extension

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has rapped the state of Punjab for removing the Barnala Municipal Council president for granting a loan to Nagar Panchayat, Handiyaya, to disburse salaries to Class IV workers without pay for the past five months.

The Bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Sudeepti Sharma also set aside the removal of Gurjit Singh Aulakh as the president. The court found no abuse of power in extending a loan to the Nagar Panchayat for disbursing employee salaries.

The Bench observed that the government, as the overall head of all municipal councils and nagar panchayats, should have taken responsibility for addressing the financial crises in these local bodies, rather than dismissing the petitioner for a "noble act".

The matter was placed before the Bench after Aulakh through senior counsel Pawan Kumar and Vidushi Kumar filed a petition against the state of Punjab and other respondents challenging order dated October 10, 2023 whereby he – elected representative of Barnala Municipal Council – was removed from the president’s post.

“The government rather than appreciating the conduct of the petitioner in granting loan to the Nagar Panchayat, Handiyaya, which is again duty of the state, dismissed the petitioner for this noble act of helping the Nagar Panchayat, Handiyaya, by way of issuing an amount of Rs 10 lakh as loan, whereby the salary of the Class IV employees was to be paid, which was not paid for the last five months. Rather it was the responsibility of the government to take an initiative in this regard,” the Bench asserted.

The court added that the petitioner was “dismissed” on the grounds that he had misused his post to cause financial loss to the Barnala Municipal Council. But the petitioner’s actions did not indicate any misuse of authority. Instead, the loan was granted on humanitarian grounds, reflecting the petitioner’s sense of responsibility. There was no intention to cause financial harm to the Municipal Council, Barnala. Furthermore, since the loan was approved by the council, it is evident that no financial loss was incurred, as it was a temporary loan to be repaid by the Nagar Panchayat, Handiyaya, it was said.