MOHAMMED ALI Vs. KULUKKALLOOR GRAMA PANCHAYAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) All the 16 seats to be filled up by direct election in terms of S.6 of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, for short, the "PR Act", in the first respondent Grama Panchayat were filled up in 2005 and Abdul Kareem was elected the President.

(2.) In terms of S. 162(1) of the P.R. Act, a Village Panchayat has three Standing Committees, for Finance; Development; and Welfare. S.162(2) provides that the elected panchayat members, except the President and Vice-President, shall be elected as members in any of the Standing Committees and that the number of members elected to each Standing Committee shall, as far as possible, be equal. S. 162(6) provides that the President shall be an ex-officio member of all Standing Committees without the right to vote. It further provides that the Vice President shall be an ex-officio member and Chairman of the Standing Committee for Finance.

(3.) The Finance, Development and Welfare Committees of the first respondent Panchayat were respectively constituted with the Vice President and four members in the Finance Committee; another five members in the Development Committee and another five members in the Welfare Committee. The President, in terms of law, was the ex-officio member of all the committees, without the right to vote.