MANGALA PRASAD JAISWAL Vs. DISTRICT MAGISTRATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS case has come to us on a reference made by the Bench which admitted the writ petition and expressed the opinion that the Division Bench decision in Bhaiya Lal v. P. N. Tewari, 1970 All LJ 36 required recon sideration.

(2.) THE admitted facts of the case are that the Town Area Committee of Gola Bazar (hereinafter called the Com mittee) district Gorakhpur is constituted by nine members and one Chairman. Thus, the total number of the members of the Committee is ten Out of the said members Noor Mohammad died in 1965 and a vacancy was declared which still remains unfilled. On 19-12-1969 five members of the Committee gave notice of their intention to move a motion of non-confidence against its Chairman (petitioner). The District Magistrate by his order dated 31-12-1969 fixed 19-1-1970 as the date for consi deration of the motion of non-confidence. On the date fixed five members of the Committee were present in the meeting. The Munsiff, Bansgaon, district Gorakh pur, presided over the meeting. All the five members of the Committee who were present voted in favour of the motion of non-confidence and the Presi ding Officer, relying on the ruling re ported in 1970 All LJ 36, declared that the motion of non- confidence was pass ed. The Minutes of the meeting record ed the result of the voting thus:-

(3.) THE contention of the peti tioner, in short, is that the expression "total number of members of the Com mittee" used in Section 87-A (12) of the U. P. Municipalities Act as applied to the Town Areas means the total strength of the Town Area Committee and not the present strength thereof. In the present case the total number of mem bers of the Town Area Committee was ten, therefore at least six members were required for carrying the motion of non-confidence against the petitioner. Since only five members had voted in favour of the motion, according to the peti tioner, it should have been declared to have failed. It is not disputed that as provided by Section 5 of the U. P. Town Areas Act, 1914, a Town Area Commit tee consists of the Chairman and the elected members who shall not be less than nine and more than fifteen as the State Goverment may by notification in the official Gazette specify. It is also not disputed that the provisions of Sec tion 87-A of the U. P. Municipalities Act were extended to the Town Areas under Section 88 of the U. P. Town Areas Act.