Krishan Dutt vs State of H.P. and Another

Deepak Gupta, J.—This petition is being disposed of without issuing formal notices to the Respondents, since the only prayer pressed at the time of admission was that a direction be issued to Respondent No. 2, the Divisional Commissioner, Shimla, to decide the appeal titled as Krishan Dutt v. State of Himachal Pradesh pending before him since 2008, at the earliest.

The Petitioner, dissatisfied by the order dated 15.12.2008 passed by the Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, whereby he was removed from the office of Member, Gram Panchayat Chamiana, filed an appeal before the Divisional Commissioner, Shimla, which has been pending for about more than one and a half year. The elections to the Panchayati Raj Institutions are likely to be held in the month of December and in case, the order dated 15.12.2008 is not set aside, the Petitioner shall be debarred from contesting the elections. Therefore, a valuable right of the Petitioner is involved.

In view of the above facts, I feel that it is a fit case where a direction should be issued to the Divisional Commissioner, Shimla to decide the appeal of the Petitioner at the earliest.

The parties, who are present before me today, are directed to appear before the Divisional Commissioner, Shimla on 27th October, 2010 and on the said date, the Divisional Commissioner shall fix a date for hearing in the first week of November, 2010 and positively decide the appeal before 10th November, 2010.