Holding electrical contractor licence with an Electricity Supply Company (Escom) or Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd. (KPTCL) on the date of filing of nomination to the gram panchayat elections amounts to holding an ‘office of profit’, which would disqualify such a person from holding post of member of the panchayat, said the High Court of Karnataka.
Justice Suraj Govindaraj passed the order while dismissing a petition filed by Munikyappa, a Class-1 Electrical Contractor with Gulbarga ESCOM and KPTCL. He had questioned the legality of the order of Raichur civil court, which had declared him disqualified from holding membership of a gram panchayat for holding ‘an office of profit’.
While analysing Section 12(g) of the Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj Act, 1993 which deals with disqualification of members, and Section 9(a) of the Representation of People (RP) Act, which deals with disqualification for government contracts, etc., the court said that the petitioner was holding an ‘office of profit’ by possessing contractor licence on the date of filing nomination, which attracts disqualification.
Though the KGS and PR Act does not define the term an ‘office of profit’, under the RP contract is treated to be as ‘office of profit’ for such disqualification, the High Court pointed out.
“There is no dispute about the continuation of the contractor licence and the term of the contract with the GESCOM/KPTCL. The only defence taken by the petitioner is that the licence was surrendered. But the licence was surrendered before the authority, who had no right to accept the surrender,” the High Court Court observed.
Also, the High Court said, the evidence on record indicates that the said surrender has not been accepted and thereby establishing that the contractor’s licence continues to be valid and in force.
