JUDGMENT T.S. Thakur, C.J.(Oral) - This petition has been filed in public interest. It prays for a mandamus directing the respondents to credit the grant-in-aid amounting to Rs. 10 lacs released by the State Government in the “Gram Fund” in accordance with the provisions of Section 39 read with Section 40 of the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 (for short 'the Act') and to execute the work for which the said grant has been sanctioned in a manner that would sub-serve the common good of the village community for whose benefit the same has been granted. 2. The Government of Haryana it appears has in terms of an order dated 18.02.2009 accorded sanction for the release of funds amounting to Rs. 29.60 Crores as grant-in-aid to Panchayati Raj Institutions during the financial year 2008-09. The said amount is meant to be spent for construction of Cement Concrete Streets alongwith drains in villages, a list whereof is attached to the order made by the Government, under what is known as, 'Pavement of Streets Scheme. It is not in dispute that the list enclosed with the order issued by the Government includes a grant for village Ghamur Kheri, in Thanesar Block of Kurukshetra District of State of Haryana. The amount sanctioned for the said village and the purpose mentioned above is limited to Rs. 10 lacs only. The petitioner's case in the present writ petition is that although the amount in question has been duly sanctioned in favour of Gram Panchayat Ghamur Kheri, the same has not been credited in the Gram Fund established in terms of Section 39 of the Act. The amount is according to the petitioner held by the Executive Engineer of the Panchayati Raj who intends to invite tenders for the C.C. Streets and drains in the village aforementioned without taking the panchayat into confidence. This according to the petitioner is in violation of the letter and spirit underlying the provisions of the Act especially Sections 39 and 40 thereof and Rule 11 of the Haryana Panchayati Raj Finance Budget Accounts Audit, Taxation and Works Rules, 1996. A prayer for mandamus directing the respondents to transfer the amount sanctioned by the Government to the Gram Fund has, therefore, been made, as already noticed earlier. 3. A prayer for mandamus directing the respondents to transfer the amount sanctioned by the Government to the Gram Fund has, therefore, been made, as already noticed earlier. 3. The respondents have filed an affidavit in reply, in which it is, inter-alia, stated that the amount of Rs.10 lacs sanctioned for the petitioner-panchayat is to be spent for construction of the C.C. streets in the village mentioned above and that the said expenditure has to be incurred in accordance with the guidelines and instructions issued by the Government in terms of the instructions dated 09.08.2006 as amended by the instructions dated 17.04.2007 and 20.09.2007. It is further stated that according to the said instructions, works upto the value of Rs. 3 lacs have to be executed through Gram Panchayat whereas those above Rs. 3 lacs have to be executed through Executive Engineer, Panchayati Raj. Since the amount in question is more than the upper limit, which is within the pecuniary jurisdiction of the Panchayat, the same has to be spent by the Executive Engineer. 4. We have heard at some length learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. Section 39 of the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 reads as under:- “ There shall be a Gram Fund for each Gram Panchayat and the same shall be utilised for carrying out the duties and obligations imposed on the Gram Panchayat or any committee thereof by this or any other Act and for such other purposes of the Gram Panchayat as the Government may prescribe.” 5. We may also at this stage extract the provisions of Section 40 of the Act aforementioned which stipulates the source of Gram Fund to be established under Section 39 of the Act:- “Source of Gram Fund:-The following moneys shall be credited to the Gram Fund:-a) all grants from the Government or other local Authorities as may be specified; b) the balances, if any, standing at the credit of the Gram Panchayat at the commencement of this Act; c) the balances and proceeds of all funds which, in the opinion of the Block Development and Panchayat Officer, were or are being collected for common, secular purposes of the village or the villages comprised in the sabha area; d) all donations; e) all taxes, duties, Cases and fees imposed and realized under this Act; f) the sale proceeds of all dust, dirt, dung or refuge collected by the servants of the Gram Panchayats and dead bodies of animals not claimed by any person in accordance with any custom or usage and the trees and other produce of the land vested in the Gram Panchayat. g) Income derived from the fisheries which are under the management of Gram Panchayats; and h) income derived from common lands vested in the Gram Panchayat under any law for the time being in force.” 6. A plain reading of the above would show that there has to be a Gram Fund for each Gram Panchayat which has to be utilised for carrying out the duties and obligations imposed on the Gram Panchayat or any committee thereof by the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 or any other Act and for such other purposes of the Gram Panchayat as the Government may prescribe. In terms of Section 40 of the Act, a Gram Panchayat receives money from several sources. One of them is in the form of grant from the Government or other local authorities as may be specified. It is not in dispute that the amount sanctioned in favour of the petitioner panchayat has been sanctioned as a grant-in-aid for the specific purpose for the construction of cement concrete streets and drains. This is evident from a reading of order dated 18.02.2009 by which the Governor of Haryana has been pleased to accord sanction for release of the funds:- “ The Governor of Haryana is hereby pleased to accord sanction for release of funds amounting to Rs. This is evident from a reading of order dated 18.02.2009 by which the Governor of Haryana has been pleased to accord sanction for release of the funds:- “ The Governor of Haryana is hereby pleased to accord sanction for release of funds amounting to Rs. 29.60 Crores (Rupees twenty nine crores and sixty lacs only) as grant-in-aid to Panchayat Raj Institutions during the current financial year 2008-09 for construction of C.C. Streets alongwith drains in villages under Pavement of Streets Scheme. The amount will be released to the following districts/blocks @ Rs. 10 lacs per village by Chief Engineer, Panchayati Raj, Haryana, Chandigarh. Execution of the works shall be carried out as per work procedure prescribed by the department for execution of these works.” (emphasis supplied). 7. There is in the light of above no manner of doubt in our mind that the amount sanctioned by the State Government had to be deposited in the Gram Fund as required by the provisions of Sections 39 and 40 supra. It is true that the fund can be utilised for carrying out the duties and obligations imposed on the Gram Panchayat or any committee thereof under the Act and also for such other purposes of the Gram Panchayat as the Government may prescribe. But it is also true that the Government have in the instant case identified the purpose for which the fund sanctioned by it have to be utilised, namely, for construction of C.C. Streets and drains in the villages referred to in the sanction order. Both these aspects do not, however, detract from the legal position that any amount sanctioned by the State Government as grant-in-aid to the village panchayat shall have necessarily to be credited to the Gram Fund and spent for the specific purpose, if any, for which the amount has been sanctioned or for discharge of the duties and obligations imposed on the Gram Panchayat generally. The respondents have not, it is admitted, deposited the amount sanctioned in favour of the petitioner-panchayat in the Gram Fund. That appears to us to be unjustified having regard to the scheme of the Act especially the provisions contained in Sections 39 and 40 thereof. The respondents have not, it is admitted, deposited the amount sanctioned in favour of the petitioner-panchayat in the Gram Fund. That appears to us to be unjustified having regard to the scheme of the Act especially the provisions contained in Sections 39 and 40 thereof. Rule 11 of the Haryana Panchayati Raj Finance Budget Accounts Audit, Taxation and Works Rules, 1996, according to which the fund can be utilised and amount withdrawn from the same only in the manner prescribed under the said Rules. Rule 11 of the Rules mentioned above is in this connection explicit and may at this stage be extracted:- “11. (1) Gram Fund, Section 39: The Gram fund shall be operated upon by the Sarpanch and in his absence by Up-Sarpanch or any other Panch specifically authorised by the Gram Panchayat for this purpose. No amount of the Gram fund shall be withdrawn from the Bank or the Post office by the Sarpanch, Up-Sarpanch or any Panch, as the case may be without the express permission of the Gram Panchayat accorded in a resolution passed for the purpose; Provided that in case of emergency, the Sarpanch may spend upto Rs. 500/-from the cash in hand or by withdrawing the required amount from Post Office or Bank even without a resolution by the Gram Panchayat. Once such an expenditure has been incurred, no further withdrawal or expenditure shall be allowed till the said expenditure is got approved from the Gram Panchayat. 2) Entries in the cash book shall be made simultaneously with each item of income and expenditure and for each item of income a separate receipt in Form XVI shall be issued. For each item of expenditure, a receipt shall be obtained and maintained in the appropriate register or file. 3) All moneys received on behalf of the Gram Panchayat shall be deposited in the Post Office or a bank approved by Government. Provided that a sum not exceeding Rs. 2000/-may be kept in the custody of the Sarpanch as cash in hand.” 8. Mr. Singh, Addl. Advocate General, Haryana, however, contended that even, when the amount may be deposited in the Gram Fund, the Panchayat will not be able to spend the same beyond what is stipulated as its financial limit in terms of the guidelines issued by the State Government. He drew our attention to the guidelines which have been produced by Mr. Singh, Addl. Advocate General, Haryana, however, contended that even, when the amount may be deposited in the Gram Fund, the Panchayat will not be able to spend the same beyond what is stipulated as its financial limit in terms of the guidelines issued by the State Government. He drew our attention to the guidelines which have been produced by Mr. Singh alongwith the affidavit as Annexure R-2 in support of that submission. A reading of the said guidelines no doubt shows that works upto Rs. 3 lacs can be executed by the Gram Panchayat on “wage muster roll” basis whereas those beyond Rs. 3 lacs and upto Rs. 50 lacs have to be got executed through tender system. These guidelines, however, are in no way in conflict with the provisions of Sections 39 and 40 of the Act or Rule 11 referred to earlier. While the amount sanctioned in favour of the Panchayat may be deposited in the Gram Fund, its actual utilisation may be regulated by the rules framed under the Act and procedure and guidelines issued by the Government. We are not in the instant case dealing with a situation where the Gram Panchayat proposes to spend the amount sanctioned in its favour in violation of the instructions issued by the Government. The question before us is not whether the Gram Panchayat should have the liberty to spend the entire amount of Rs. 10 lacs on wage muster roll basis. The question is whether the amount which is sanctioned ought to be deposited in the Gram Fund and be utilised in the manner stipulated under the guidelines and the procedure otherwise prescribed by the Government in terms of its instructions. The answer to both these questions is in affirmative. The amount has to be deposited in Gram Fund and once deposited, the same ought to be utilised in accordance with the provisions of the Act and the Rules as well as of the guidelines issued by the State Government. This would mean that while the actual execution of the work may be regulated by the guidelines, the withdrawal of the amount from the Gram Fund must necessarily go through the rigours of Rule 11 quoted earlier. 9. This would mean that while the actual execution of the work may be regulated by the guidelines, the withdrawal of the amount from the Gram Fund must necessarily go through the rigours of Rule 11 quoted earlier. 9. In the result, we allow this petition and direct the respondents to ensure deposit of the amount of grant-in-aid sanctioned in the Gram Fund and its utilisation in accordance with the purpose for which the said amount has been sanctioned keeping in view the guidelines and instructions issued by the State Government. Needless to say that once the amounts are found to be due and payable to those who have executed the works, the Gram Panchayat would examine and take an appropriate decision regarding payment of the dues of the bills raised by the agency engaged for executing the works. No costs. Petition Allowed.