In Brief
Janabai, an elected Gram Panchayat member, was disqualified under Section 14(1)(j-3) of the Maharashtra Village Panchayat Act, 1958 for occupying government land that her father-in-law and husband had encroached. She argued that since she did not make the encroachment herself, only her family members did, the disqualification should not apply. The Supreme Court held that the word 'person' in the disqualification clause must be interpreted purposively to include those who continue to occupy encroached government property, not just the original encroacher. Since encroachment is a continuing act and the member had a conflict of interest as a public servant obliged to prevent encroachments, her occupancy of the property constituted disqualification. The Court overruled the prior precedent in Sagar Pandurang Dhundare, holding that purposive interpretation is necessary to prevent the absurd result of allowing family members to benefit from encroachments while serving in elected office.
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