Village Panchayat Cannot Suo Motu Review, Cancel Valid Building Permit Given By Its Secretary: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court recently passed a judgment holding that the village panchayat does not have the powers to suo motu review or cancel a building permit which was validly given by the Panchayat Secretary.Referring to Rules 9, 13 and 14 of the Kerala Panchayat Building Rules and the state Panchayat Raj Act, Justice C.S. Dias observed, “A co-joint reading of the above provisions makes it abundantly clear that the jurisdiction to decide an application for a building permit rests solely with the Secretary. It is only when the Secretary does not approve or disapprove an application within 15 days that the Village Panchayat gets jurisdiction to decide the application, provided the applicant submits a written request...The legislation statute bars the Panchayat, its President or members from interfering with the statutory powers entrusted exclusively to its officers, and there is a clear separation/bifurcation of powers between the Village Panchayat and its Secretary”. In the present case, the petitioner was a manager of a school and he sought a building permit from the Panchayat Secretary concerned to construct a compound wall. This was allowed by the Secretary but later, the Panchayat Committee suo motu cancelled the building permit. An application was filed to review the cancellation order but the same was rejected. These decisions of the Panchayat Committee were challenged before the High Court.The Court noted that as per Section 185B of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, there is a statutory bar on the Panchayat, its President and members in interfering with the statutory powers entrusted solely on its officers. Moreover, there is a clear separation of powers between the Secretary and the Panchayat.Therefore, the Court set aside the suo motu decision to cancel the building permit and the order rejecting application for review of the decision. It also revived the building permit granted and observed that the petitioner is at liberty to construct the compound wall. Further, a direction was given to the 8th respondent (Sub-Inspector of Police) to grant police protection to carry out the construction.Case No: WP(C) No. 39841 of 2024Case Title: T.M. Hariprasad v. State of Kerala and Ors.Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Ker) 515Counsel for the petitioner: T. Krishnaunni (Senior Counsel), Meena A., Vinod Ravindranath, K.C. Kiran. M.R. Mini, Anish Antony Anathazhath, Thareeq Anver, Nivedhitha Prem V.Counsel for the respondents: C.Y. Vinod Kumar – R9, K.A. Jaleel, Abu Siddik P. – Standing Counsel – R3 to R5, Preetha K.K. – Senior Government PleaderClick to Read/Download Judgment

Village Panchayat Cannot Suo Motu Review, Cancel Valid Building Permit Given By Its Secretary: Kerala High Court

K. Salma Jennath

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