J.K.Biswas, J. - (1.) The three petitioners, elected members of Panjipara Gram Panchayat, Uttar Dinajpur, have questioned the vires of a provision of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973. section 4(2A)(ii).
(2.) Section 4 of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973 speaks of how a village panchayat shall be constituted. Sub-section(l) thereof says, "For every Gram the State Government shall constitute a Gram Panchayat bearing the name of the Gram." Sub-section(2) of that section 4 says how the members of the village panchayat shall he elected. Sub-section(2A) says, "The Gram Panchayat shall consist of the following members: (i) members elected under sub-section (2); (ii) members of the Panchayat Samiti, not being Sabhapati or Sahakari Sabhapati, elected thereto from the constituency comprising any part of the Gram." Sub-section (2A) was inserted by section 3(2) of the West Bengal Panchayat (Amendment) Act. 1992. The remaining sub-sections (3), (4) and (5) of that section 4 deal with (a) duty of the prescribed authority (i) to divide area of a village into constituencies, and (ii) to take consequential steps; (b) the requirement of notification regarding constitution of every village panchayat, and (c) the status of every village panchayat that it shall be a body corporate.
(3.) The petitioners contend that clause (ii) of sub-section (2A) of section 4 of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973 is ultra vires the provisions of the Constitution of India, Article 243C(2), which is : "(2) All the seats in a Panchayat shall be filled by persons chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the Panchayat area and, for the purpose, each Panchayat area shall be divided into territorial constituencies in such manner that the ratio between the population of each constituency and the number of seats allotted to it shall, so far as practicable, be the same throughout the Panchayat area.";