Mitra, J. - (1.) The short question involved in this matter is, whether the learned Munsif hearing out an election dispute under Sec. 204 of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973, has power to grant injunction restraining the elected member from taking part in the proceedings of the panchayat body to which he has been elected or to prohibit such a member from entering upon his office. The facts of this case, inter alia are, that the petitioners contested the last Panchayat election held on 28th February, 1988 from the Digampur/X -Gram Panchayat Constituency along with 5 other candidates. In the said gram panchayat election the respondent Nos. 7 and 8 were elected. Against the said result, the petitioners filed an application under Sec. 204 of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973 challenging the said election of the respondent Nos.7 and 8, inter alia, on the ground of malpractices and also non -compliance of statutory rules by the respondents concerned especially the Presiding Officer namely, the respondent No.5 and filed and application for injunction purported to have been made under Order XXXIX Rule 1 read with Sec. 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure praying for an order restraining the respondent concerned from convening the meeting of the said Gram Panchayat till the petitioners prayer for recounting as made in their application under Sec. 204 was allowed. The learned Munsif, by his order No.3 dated March 29, 1988. rejected the said application for temporary injunction as misconceived as he was of the view that Sec. 204(8) of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973, clearly prohibits the Court from granting any injunction relating to election matters. Being aggrieved by the said order, the petitioner has moved the present application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India in this Hon'ble Court. It is submitted by Mr. Mitra, the learned Advocate, appearing on behalf of the petitioners that since the learned Munsif hearing an election dispute under Sec. 204 of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973, acts as a civil court he has all the powers conferred upon a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure (hereinafter referred to as the Code) including powers under Ss. 94, 151 and Order XXXIX, Rules 1 and 2 of the Code and therefore has the power to grant temporary injunction in appropriate cases, notwithstanding The prohibitory provisions of Sec. 204(8) of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as the Act). Mr. Mitra has further submitted that even if the learned Munsif cannot be termed as a 'court' in the strict sense of the term but acts merely a tribunal or a persona designata, since he has been vested with some important trappings of a court namely, all the power of a civil court for the purposes of receiving evidence, administering oath, enforcing the attendance of witnesses and compelling discovery and production of documents under Sec. 204(6) of the Act he should be treated/regarded as a Court in the broader sense of the term and is thus vested with also the power to grant injunction in appropriate cases.
(2.) Mr. Ukil, the learned Government Pleader appearing on behalf of the State of West Bengal, however, submits that in view of the specific provisions of Sec. 204(8) of the West Bengal Panchayat Act. 1973, the learned Munsif acting either a a tribunal or as a Court, cannot grant injunction relating to election matters especially postponing the election of the members of the various panchayat bodies or prohibiting the elected persons from taking part in the proceedings of such bodies and also entering upon their offices by the elected members of such bodies and that Sec. 204(6) of the said Act also makes it clear that the Judges do not have all the powers of the Civil Procedure Code but only limited powers and such provisions does not clothe the learned Judges with the power to grant injunction in election matters.
(3.) Several references have cited at the bar by the learned advocates namely, an unreported Single Bench judgment of this court of N. G. Chowdhury, J. in CO. 1559 of 1983 (Munsi Aktar Hossain v/s. Kaji Nur Md. and Ors.); 47 CWN 473 (Gobinda Ch. Saha and Anr. v/s. Rashmani Dassya); AIR 1944 Calcutta 401 (Bazlar Rahaman Khandakar v/s. Amiraddin and, on his death, his sons Apsaraddi and Ors.) and AIR 1971, Orissa 302 (Narayan Swain v/s. Narendra Kumar Sahu & Ors.).;