RATANLALNATH Vs. STATE OF TRIPURA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted in both the Special Leave Petitions.

(2.) The Tripura Legislative Assembly enacted the Tripura Panchayats Act, 1993 in the light of and to bring the law relating to panchayats in conformity with the purpose, substance and direction of the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1993. The Act has created a three-tier system. Gram Panchayats are constituted for Grams (villages), Panchayat Samities at the block level and Zilla Parishads at the district level. The Act provides for the constitution and composition of these bodies besides providing for their powers, duties and functions et al. We may briefly notice the relevant provisions of the Act. Clause (16) of Section 2 defines the expression "First General Election." It means "the First General Election of members held for constitution of Gram Panchayats, Panchayat Samities and Zilla Parishads after commencement of this Act. "The subject matter of the present proceedings is the "First General Election." Clause (32) in Section 2 defines the expression "population" to mean "the population as ascertained at the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published." Section 3 provides for the constitution of the Gram. Section 11 provides that for every Gram there shall be constituted a Gram Panchayat. Section 12 provides inter alia that the strength of a Gram Panchayat shall not be less than nine and shall not exceed fifteen. Section 13 provides that each Gram shall be divided into not less than five but not more than fifteen constituencies. Section 14 provides for reservation of seats in every Gram Panchayat in favour of scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Similar provision is made in respect of Panchayat Samities and Zilla Parishads as well. Section 176 provides for the constitution of the State Panchayat Election Commission. The Commission is vested with the power of superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of the electoral rolls and the conduct of all elections to Panchayat Bodies under the Act and the Rules made thereunder. Section 177 says that "for each constituency, there shall be an electoral roll showing the names of the persons qualified to vote. The electoral roll shall be prepared in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the Rules made there under. "Section 183 provides for preparation, revision and correction of electoral rolls. Section 189 bars the jurisdiction of the Civil Court in respect of matters provided by the Act. Section 213 bars the Court from granting an injunction interfering with the process of election. Section 228 empowers the State Government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the Act.

(3.) In exercise of the rule-making power conferred by Section 228, the State Government has framed the aforesaid three sets of rules among others. We may first notice the relevant provisions of the Delimitation Rules. Rule 3 provides for determination of number of members for a Gram Panchayat and the number of members of Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes and women in each Panchayat. The number of members of each Panchayat is related to the population of each Gram. For a Gram, the population of which does not exceed three thousand, the number of members is nine (which is the minimum number prescribed by the Act) the for a Gram and population of which exceeds six thousand, the number of members is fifteen (the maximum prescribed by the Act). Sub-rule (3) provides for the reservation of seats in favour of Scheduled tribes and Scheduled Castes whereas sub-rule (4) provides for reservation in favour of women. Having regard to the nature of the controversy involved herein, it would be appropriate to set out sub-rule (3) of Rule 3 in its entirety :