PANCHAYAT PANDRPAADU Vs. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Judgment of the Court was delivered by the Hon'ble Mr. K. Bhimsankaram, All the petitions before us raise common questions involving the meaning and effect of certain sections of the Madras Village Panchayats Act, 1950 (hereinafter called the Act) as amended by the Madras Village Panchayats (Andhra Second Amendment) Act, 1955 (hereinafter called the Amendment Act.) Though the petitioners were represented by several counsel only a few of them conducted the arguments before us, each arguing what has not been touched upon before by another. Still, the arguments occupied a fairly long THE PANCHAYAT, PANDRAPADU v. STATE OF ANDHRA (Bhimasankaram, J.) 783 time and covered, I am disposed to consider, much wider ground than the necessities of the case demanded. I propose to deal with every argument of substance raised before us. The target of attack in the main, is G. O. Ms No. 334 Local Administration dated 2nd March, 1956. This was issued by the Government of Andhra because, in their opinion, the conditions created by the Amending Act necessitated it. It purported to have been made under Section 22 of the Amendment Act which is as follows :

(2.) In order that the contentions of the parties may be appreciated, it is necessary to read the following sections of the old Act: Sec. 6 (i) The total number of members of a panchayat exclusive of its president shall be notified by the Inspector in accordance with such scale as may be prescribed with reference to population, (a) The Inspector may, from time to time, by notification, alter the total number of members of a panchayat notified under sub-section (i). (3) The number notified under sub-section (i) or the number as altered by notification under sub-section 2 shall not be less than five or more than fifteen. Sec. 7 The members of the Panchayat shall be elected in such manner as may be prescribed. Sec. 9 (i) For the purpose of electing members to a panchayat the Inspector shall, after consulting the panchayat, by notification, divide the village into wards and determine the number of members to be returned by each ward, (a) A class I panchayat village shall be divided into not less than five wards and a Class II panchayat village shall be divided, if it has a population of 1000 or less, into two wards, and if it has a population of more than 1,000 into not more than five wards. Sec. 10 (i) The term of office of the members of every panchayat who are elected at ordinary elections shall, save as otherwise expressly provided in, or may be prescribed under, this Act, be three years beginning at noon on the day on which the vacancies occur: Provided that the Inspector may, by notification, for sufficient cause which shall be stated therein, direct that the term of office of the members of any panchayat as a whole be extended or reduced by such period not exceeding three months as may be specified in the notification. (2) Ordinary vacancies in the office of an elected member of a panchayat shall be filled at ordinary elections which shall be fixed by the election authority to take place on such day or days within three months before the occurrence of the vacancies, as he thinks fit: Provided that the Government may for sufficient cause direct or permit the holding of any ordinary election after the occurrence of the vacancy. Sec. 20. There shall be a president and vice-president for every panchayat. Sec. 21. (i) The president shall be elected by the persons whose names appear in the electoral roll for the panchayat from among themselves. If at an election held under this sub-section no president is elected, a fresh election shall be held : Provided that no member shall be eligible to stand for election as president: Provided further that a person who stands for election as president shall not be eligible to stand for election as a member, (a) (3) Save as otherwise expressly provided in or prescribed under this Act, the term of office of the president who is elected at an ordinary election shall be three years beginning at noon on the day on which the vacancy occurs, and if such election is held after the occurrence of the vacancy, his term of' office shall commence from the date of his election and expire at the time at which it would have expired if he had been elected before the occurrence of the vacancy. (4) * (5) * * (6) * * (7) The president shall be an ex-officio member of the panchayt and shall be entitled to vote at meetings of the Panchayat.

(3.) Reference may be necessitated to the other sections of the Act in the course of this judgment. But, it is not necessary to quote them. Now, it may be noted that the Amendment Act does not touch any one of these sections except sections 7 and 21. The amendment of section 7 of the principal Act was necessitated by the insertion of a new section numbered and lettered as 10-A, with which I shall deal later. Suffice it to say, for the present, that it provides for the election of a woman member by the members of the panchayat. As regards section 21 of the principal Act, it is replaced by the following under section 6 of the Amendment Act: