As per Pote, he could not hold four meetings in the first half of 2021 owing to the prohibitory orders issued under the Disaster Management Act and section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) due to the prevalence of COVID-19 pandemic.
He pointed out that soon after the prohibitory orders were lifted, he held meetings in September 3, 2021, November 16 and 30, 2021 and an online meeting on January 26, 2022.
He, therefore, argued that he has conformed with Section 7 of the Maharashtra Village Panchayats Act, which mandates holding four meetings in a financial year and that the gap between two such meetings should not be of more than four months.
The Collector, however, disqualified Pote on the ground that he held meetings consecutively and did not followed the four months gap part in the provision.
Source: Barandbench
