GANESH RAMA NAIK Vs. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER NORTH KANAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners in these cases were appointed under the provisions of the Bombay Village Panchayat Act of 1933 as Secretaries of various Panchayats functioning under the said Act and continue to serve as such Secretaries of the Panchayats to which they had been respectively appointed. By the order made by the Deputy Commissioner of the relevant District in each of these cases, the petitioner therein was sought to be transferred from the Panchayat of which he was serving as Secretary, to another Panchayat to serve that other Panchayat as Secretary. The Petitioners impugn the validity of the said orders of transfer.

(2.) Two principal reasons are stated in support of the prayers to quash the said orders of transfer, viz., (1) that the petitioners are governed by the Bombay Village Panchayats Secretaries (Conditions of Service) Rules, 1948 framed under the Bombay Village Panchayats Act, 1933 and that Rule 23 thereof requires that services of Secretaries of Panchayats may be transferred from one Panchayat to another only with the consent of the Secretary concerned and the consent of the Panchayat to which he is sought to be transferred, and (2) that, in any event, the petitioners not being Government servants are not liable to be transferred as if they are such Government servants.

(3.) It is common ground that in the light of the provisions of S.221 of the Mysore Village Panchayats and Local Boards Act, 1959, the State Government have promulgated in March 1962 what are called the Mysore Local Government Service (Panchayat Secretaries Branch) (Cadre and Recuitment) Rules 1962. As originally framed these rules contained only 17 rules. By an amendment made in July 1967, a new rule No. 18 was added thereto. The said rule reads: