- (1.) THIS is a petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution and arises out of the following circumstances.
(2.) THE petitioner is the Pradhan of Gaon Sabha Pandah, District Ballia, and is member of the Kshettra Samiti Pandah. Under S. 5 of the U.P. Kshettra Samitis and Zila Parishads Adhiniyam 1961 (hereinafter called the Adhiniyam) the State Government, by a notification in the Gazette, established a Kshettra Samiti for Pandah Kharid in July 1962. The composition of the Kshettra Samiti has been completed and the opposite party No. 5 to the petition has been elected as Pramukh of the Samiti. After the establishment of the Kshettra Samiti for Pandah Khand the Head Office of the Samiti, according to the petitioner, has been located in village Pandah and all the meetings of the Samiti have been held there. The petitioner contends that out of the villages comprised in the Khand, Pandah being situated on a pucca road, is most conveniently approachable from all the villages within the Khand.
(3.) ON 30th August, 1962 the Kshettra Samiti, by a resolution, appointed a sub-committee in order to select a suitable site for the establishment of the Office of the Samiti. The petitioner was one of the five members of the sub-committee which could not function as two of its members resigned after some time. Their resignations were accepted by the Kshettra Samiti on 1st November, 1962 and it decided to finalise the selection of the site for its central office itself and, therefore passed a resolution the same day to the effect that its central office will be situated in village Poor and, therefore, they made a representation in that regard to the State Government. By a letter dated 4th December, 1962 the Assistant Development Commissioner directed the District Planning Officer of Ballia that the matter of the selection of the site of the office of the Samiti be placed at a meeting of the Kshettra Samiti after giving previous notice to the members and further directed that the resolution should be taken up in the agenda at the first place. The Kshettra Samiti was accordingly about to convene a meeting of its members but a subsequent direction was received on telephone by the District Planning Officer in January, 1963 from the Development Commissioner directing that the proposed meeting of the Samiti should not be held and its former decision should not be reconsidered. On 24th October, 1963 the Development Commissioner of this State wrote to the District Planning Officer to the effect that the State Government had decided that the headquarters of the block will continue to be located at Poor as had been previously decided by an order dated 28th May, 1962. A copy of this letter was sent to the Block Development Officer, Pandah for information and requiring him to shift the office of the Samiti immediately to Poor, after contacting the Pradhan of the Gaon Sabha Poor. It is alleged in the petition that the Office of the Samiti, after its establishment, has always been located at Pandah and that there was no office at village Poor at any time, hence the question of the continuation of the Office at Poor did not arise. It may be mentioned here that before the establishment of the Kshettra Samitis under the provisions of the Adhiniyam the State Government had, by administrative orders, established Block Development Committees and the office of one of such committees was situated at Pandah. The Committee had passed a resolution that its office should be shifted from Pandah to Poor and on the basis of that resolution the State Government had issued the letter dated 28th May, 1962, a reference of which has been made in the letter dated 24th October, 1963 of the Development Commissioner.;