SC protects woman sarpanch against prejudice

Manisha Panpatil got elected in Vichkeda panchayat, Jalgaon district from the reserved seat for women in February 2021. The District Collector disqualified him as sarpanch after few people accused her of encroaching public land and living in a house in it with her family. The order was confirmed by Divisional Commissioner and she lost her case in the Bombay High Court and she filed an appeal in the Apex Court. The Court pronounced the verdict in her favor and said that Ms. Patil faced bias at grassroot level. It also said that perhaps the government had been aiding the people falsely accusing her in a mechanical way by passing summarily orders. The Court found no professional misconduct on the part of the accused and thus it set aside the order of Bombay High Court and allowed her to continue as sarpanch till the completion of her tenure.