AMBIKA LAL DAS Vs. ABHINANDAN PRASAD ROY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant is an inhabitant of village Jorgawan in the district of Saharsa, where a Gram Panchayat has been constituted under the Bihar Panchayat Raj Act, 1947. He brought a suit for declaration that the notices given to him by the Mukhiya of the Gram Panchayat on the 17th of November, 27th of December, 1956 and 12th of January, 1957, were against the Panchayat Raj Act and, as such, not binding upon him and that a fine of Rs. 35 Imposed upon him by the same authority was equally illegal. He asked also for a perpetual injunction against the mukhiya and members of the Executive committee of tnat rancna-yat who were the defendants, restraining them from removing his bamboo clumps from, his plot No, 2312 under khata No. 60K in that village.

(2.) The plaintiff-appellant had bamboo clumps on his plot No. 2312 under khata No. 60K in that village. He purchased that land from the previous owner, Ekadashi Oevi by a registered deed of sale on the 8th of March, 1954. On the 17th of November, 1956, lie received a notice from defendant 1, who is the Mukhiya of the Panchayat, to the effect that he should remove the bamboo roots from the land in question. To that the plaintiff replied saying that the Panchayat had no right to give such order in regard to the removal of bamboos. Another notice was issued to him to the same effect as before, on the 27th of December 1956; and a reply also was sent on the 31st of December, 1956. Finally, on the 11th of January, 1957, in a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Panchayat it was decided that a fine of Rs. 35 would be imposed on the plaintiff for his default in compliance with the previous notice about the removal of the bamboos. On the 18th of January, 1957, the present suit was filed for reliefs stated above. All the members of the Executive Committee were made defendants in the suit.

(3.) The main defence was that the suit was barred in absence of a notice under Section 80 of the Coda cf Civil Procedure and that the order of the Gram Panchayat asking the plaintiff for the removal of the bamboo clumps and imposing a fine in default of compliance with the notice were valid under Section 16 of the Act.