A panchayat in rural Patna gave its "verdict" on a couple's divorce plea on Wednesday.
A sarpanch is primarily supposed to deal with complaints related to disputes over land or family affairs. However, the panchayat (read sarpanch) has no legal authority to give any decision on divorce petition.
A practising lawyer of Patna High Court, Rajesh Kumar Ranjan Pandey, questioned the legality of the order of the panchayat. He said that as per the Bihar Panchayat Act, 2006, there is no legal provision to take up the case related to divorce. "It's only the family court, which can hear such cases. By doing so (delivering judgment on divorce), the panchayat has set a bad trend in Bihar," he said.
Sanju Manjhi, 30, and his wife Sikanti Devi, 24, had approached the sarpanch of Mohiuddinpur panchayat under the jurisdiction of Fatuha block in rural Patna, seeking divorce. The couple has two daughters aged about two and three years.
The sarpanch happens to be the judicial head of a panchayat.
Sanju, a resident of Indawas village in Nalanda district, had married Sikanti in May 2011. The couple spent good times for almost three years and had two offspring. However, a dispute cropped up about a year ago when Sikanti preferred to stay with her father and mother at Mohiuddinpur village near Fatuha, around 30km east of Patna.
Sanju, a daily wager, got enraged after his wife refused to live with her in-laws even after his repeated request.
"My wife always asked for money, which I used to give her on a monthly basis to look after my two children. However, she was not ready to go with me at my native place in Nalanda, which prompted me to seek divorce," the husband told the panchayat.
As the relationship got strained between the husband and the wife, the relatives of Sikanti last week approached sarpanch Vishnu Paswan, who after listening to the complaints of the couple, announced his verdict on Wednesday. The sarpanch asked the couple to live separately - what they had wished for. "I also contacted the relatives of both the husband and the wife before jumping to any conclusion," Vishnu told The Telegraph on Thursday.
He said that since the couple had petitioned the panchayat, seeking its intervention to settle the issue a week ago, I was duty bound to settle it," Paswan said, adding: "The matter has been resolved amicably, which both the sides happily accepted and also gave it in writing."
As per the order, the two girls - Mamta and Gudia - will live with their mother.
Sikanti's father Yugal Manjhi, who was present during the hearing, said he was satisfied with the order of the panchayat. "We didn't want to fight any legal battle. So we decided to resolve the matter at the panchayat level. Had we taken the matter to a court, the two families would have to wait for years to get the verdict," he said.
The nyaya mitra (legal adviser) of the area, Dharmavir Prasad, was also present when the sarpanch announced the decision of the panchayat.
Of late, several panchayats in the state have hogged the limelight for wrong reasons. Last week, a panchayat under Mohiuddinnagar block in Samastipur externed a newly-wed couple from their native village Kursaha over their inter-caste marriage. The couple was thrashed in full public view and forced to spend a night tied with a wooden log.
Finding no way out, the couple reached the office of the Samastipur superintendent of police and requested for their safety. The couple had earlier met the deputy inspector-general of Darbhanga range, seeking his intervention. Rajballav Yadav and Bibha Kumari (a Dalit girl) had married at the Vidyapatidham temple in Samastipur.
Later, an FIR was lodged with the Mohiuddinnagar police station against the mukhiya and other members of the panchayat on the order of the senior police officials.
