THE PANCHAYAT BOARD OF SENBAKKAM BY ITS PRESIDENT SRI A. MASILAMANIA MUDALIAR Vs. S.M. GENGADARAN AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE facts which have given rise to this writ appeal are set out succinctly in the Judgment of Veeraswami, J. in W.P. No. 978 of 1960 against which this appeal has been filed by the 1st respondent therein. The petitioner in the Writ Petition was elected as a member of the Panchayat Board of Senbakkam on 5th May, 1958. It is not in dispute that prior to his election he had been convicted for offences under Sections 348 and 330 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for three years and that at the time of the election five years had not elapsed from the date of the expiry of the period of the sentence. This would, therefore, have been a disqualification under Section 16(1) of the Madras Village Panchayat Act, 1950 (hereinafter called the Act) for his election as a member. Apparently nobody took the objection before his election. On a petition by the President of the Panchayat Board, filed in February, 1960, under Section 19(1) of the Act and numbered as O.P. No. 37 of 1960 on the file of the Court of the learned Principal District Munsif, Vellore, it was held that the present petitioner was not qualified to hold office as a member of the Panchayat under Section 19(1) of the Act and that he should, therefore, cease to hold the office.

(2.) JURISDICTION to disqualify an existing member of a Village Panchayat, is conferred under Section 19(1) of the Act on the prescribed judicial authority, who is the District Munsif in this case. We will presently deal in some detail with the provisions of this section. The question that arose in the Writ Petition, was whether Section 19(1) of the Act applied only to disqualifications acquired after the election of a member or whether it would apply also to disqualifications that existed prior to the election. Section 19(1) refers to certain disqualifications, enumerated in a fascicule of four preceding sections in the Act namely, Sections 13, 15, 16 and 17. Veeraswami, J., held that to disqualify a member on the score of any of the qualifications mentioned in Sections 15, 16 and 17, the disqualifications should be one acquired after the election and not before it. In the present case, since the conviction of the member was prior S.M. Gengadaran v. Panchayat Board, Senbakkam : (1962)1 MLJ 327 to his election, and since this is a disqualification enumerated in Section 16 of the Act, the learned Judge held that Section 19(1) will not apply to this case. Consequently the learned Judge quashed the order of the District Munsif. The 1st respondent appeals.

(3.) SECTION 19(1)of the Act with which we are concerned reads: Whenever it is alleged that any person who has been elected as a member of a panchayat is not qualified, or has become disqualified under Sections 13, 15, 16 or 17 and such person does not admit the allegation, or whenever any member is himself in doubt whether or not he is not qualified or has become disqualified under Sections 15, 16 or 17 such member or any other member may, and the Executive Authority shall, on the direction of the Panchayat or of the Inspector, apply to the prescribed judicial authority whose decision shall be final.