The Madras High Court has summoned a village panchayat president to explain under what authority a resolution was passed by the local body demanding cancellation of ‘Patta’ (revenue document on land ownership) granted to a transgender in the locality and under what authority he had given a representation in this regard to the Cuddalore Collector.
Justice S.M. Subramaniam directed N.D. Mohan, president of Nainarkuppam village panchayat near Vadalur to be present in the court on August 21 and submit his explanation in the form of an affidavit. The judge said that a perusal of the representation made by the panchayat president revealed that he had developed an hatred towards the transgender beneficiaries.
Observing that the act was directly in contravention of Article 19(1)(d) (right of a citizen to move freely throughout the territory of the country) of the Constitution, the judge said, it was a matter of great concern for the court to come across an elected representative indulging in an unconstitutional act that would violate the fundamental rights guaranteed to all citizens.
The interim order summoning the panchayat president was passed on a writ petition filed by the latter seeking a direction to the Collector to consider the representation made by him, on behalf of the villagers, on May 29 this year. The representation had a reference to a resolution passed by the panchayat on April 7, 2023 for cancelling the patta granted to the transgender.
Stating that any such resolution as well as the representation were illegal, the judge directed the panchayat president to produce a copy of the resolution during the next hearing and also explain the circumstances under which such resolution was passed.
