THE MANAGIRI VILLAGE PANCHAYAT, REPRESENTED BY ITS PRESIDENT, K.R. PICHAI AND ORS. Vs. THE GOVERNMENT OF TAMIL NADU REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT R.D.L.A. DEPARTMENT AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A Corporation changed with the Municipal Government of the City of Madurai to be known as the Municipal Corporation of Madurai came into existence on 1st May, 1971 under provisions of the Madurai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1971 (Tamil Nadu Act XV of 1971) (hereinafter referred to as the Act). Sub-section (4) of Section 3 of this Act stated that the Government may, by notification, declare their intention (a) to exclude from the City any local area comprised therein, and defined in such Notification ; or (b) to include within the City and local area in the vicinity thereof and defined in such notification ; provided that no-cantonment shall be included within the city. Sub-section (5) of this section stated that any inhabitant of a local area in respect of which any such notification has; been published or any local authority affected by any such notification, or the Council of the Corporation desiring to object to anything therein contained, may submit the objections in writing to the Government within six weeks from the publication of the notification and the Government shall take a 1 such objections, into consideration. According to Sub-section (6) of this section, when six weeks-from the publication of the notification, have expired, and the Government have considered the objections, if any, which, have been submitted, they may, as the case may be, by notification, exclude from or include in, the city, the local area or any portion thereof. Sub-section (7) provides that this Act shall come into force in, or cease to apply to, any such local area or any portion thereof, as the case may be, on such date as may be specified, in the notification under Sub-section (6). Sub-section 8 is as follows:

(2.) The sole and simple argument advanced on behalf of the petitioners by 'he learned Counsel for the petitioners is that areas affected and invoked in these writ petitions formed part of Panchayats constituted under the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1958. (hereinafter referred to as the Panchayats Act) and that Act makes specific provision for exclusion of areas included in a panchayat town or panchayat village, as the case may be, and unless the areas in question are excluded from the panchayat town or the panchayat village, as the case may be, under the provisions of the Panchayat Act, there is no area available for inclusion within the jurisdiction of the Madurai City Municipal Corporation. In other words, the argument of the learned Counsel for the petitioners is that the areas in question must be first excluded from the panchayats under the provisions of the Panchayats Act, and thereafter alone they can be included within the jurisdiction of the Madurai City Municipal Corporation under the provisions of the Act, and he Government not having taken steps to have the areas excluded from the respective panchayats under the provisions of the Panchayats Act, the impugned notifications are not valid. I shall now consider the validity of this submission with reference to the provisions contained in the Panchayats Act itself.

(3.) Section 3 of the Panchayats Act deals with the formation of panchayat villages and panchayat towns. Sub-section (1) (a) of the section states that the Inspector may, by notification, classify and declare every local area possessing urban characteristics and comprising a revenue village or villages or any portion of a revenue village or contiguous portion of two or more revenue villages and having a population estimated at not less than five thousand and an annual income estimated at not less than ten thousand rupees, as a panchayat town for purposes of this Act, Under Section 3 (1) (b) the Inspector shall, by notification, classify and declare every other local area comprising a revenue village or villages or any portion of a revenue village or contiguous portions of two or more revenue villages with a population estimated at not less than five hundred as a panchayat village for the purposes of the Act. Under Section 3 (1) (c) the Inspector shall, by notification, specify the name of such panchayat town or panchayat village. It is Sub-sections (2) and (3) of this section that is strongly relied on by the learned Counsel for the petitioner and therefore , I am extracting Sections 3 (2) and 3 (3) in full, and they are as follows: