R.S.Narula, C.J. - (1.) The question referred to this Full Bench is:-- "Whether the State Government In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of S. 95 of the Punjab Gram Panchayat Act, 1952, can delegate its powers exercisable under sub-section (2) of S. 102 of the said Act, to the Deputy Comm!6-sioners in respect of Gram Panchayats within their jurisdiction." It appears to be unnecessary to go into the facts and circumstances giving rise to the above-quoted question as the pure legal question referred to us arises in a large number of writ petitions and our answer is expected to govern all those cases.
(2.) Section 102 of the Punjab Gram Panchayat Act, 1952, as applicable to the State of Haryana and as amended up to date (hereinafter called the Act) reads as follows:- "(1) The Deputy Commissioner may during the course of an enquiry, suspend a Panch for any of the reasons for which he can be removed, and debar him from taking part in any act or proceedings of the said body during that period and order him to hand over the records, money or any property of the said body to the person authorised in this behalf. (2) Government may, after such enquiry as it may deem fit, remove any Panch- (a) on any of the grounds mentioned in sub-section (5) of S. 5; (b) who refuses to act, or becomes in-capable of acting, or is adjudged an insolvent, (c) who, without reasonable cause, absents himself for more than two consecutive months from the meetings of the Gram Panchayat or the Adalti Panchayat m the case may be; (d) who in the opinion of Government or of the officer to whom Government has delegated its power of removal, has been guilty of misconduct in the discharge of his duties during his past or present tentire; (e) whose continuance in office is, in the opinion of Government or of the officer to whom Government has delegated its powers of removal, undesirable in the interests of the public. Explanation.--The expression 'misconduct' in Clause (d) includes the failure of the Sarpanch without sufficient cause (i) to submit the judicial file of a case within two weeks of the receipt of the order of any Court to do so; (ii) to supply a copy of the order of the Gram Panchayat in an administrative or judicial case decided by it, within two weeks from the receipt of a valid application therefor. (3) A person who has been removed under Clause (a) or (c) of sub- see. (2) may be disqualified for re-election for such period not exceeding five years as Government may fix. (4) A person who has been removed under Clause (b), (d) or (e) of sub-section (2) shall stand disqualified for re-election for a period of five years from the date of his removal; and a person who was removed under any of the said clauses on or after the 1st day of Sep., 1965, shall stand disqualified for re-election during such period after the commencement of the Punjab Gram Panchayat (Haryana Amendment) Act, 1971, which falls with-in a period of five years from the date of his removal." Section 95 of the Act which contains the authority for delegation of powers conferred by the Act is in the following terms. - "(1) Government may, by notification delegate all or any of its powers under this Act other than the power to make rules, to a Deputy Commissioner or the Sub-Divisional Officer as the case may be or the Director. (2) The Director may with the previous permission of Government delegate any of his powers other than those dele-gated to him to an officer not below the rank of District Panchayat Officer. (3) The Chief Judicial Magistrate may delegate any of his powers to a Judicial Magistrate of the first class. (4) The District Judge may delegate any of his powers to a Subordinate Judge of the first class. (5) The Collector may delegate any of his powers to an Assistant Collector of the first grade. (6) The Deputy Commissioner or the Sub-Divisional Officer, as the care may be, may delegate any of his powers of control to an officer not below the rank of an Extra Assistant Commissioner or to a District Panchayat Officer: Provided that the power specified in S. 102 shall not be delegated by the Deputy Commissioner." In exercise of the powers conferred on the Government by sub-section (1) of S. 95 of the Act, the powers of the Government to remove any Panch under subsec, (2) of S. 102 and to disqualify such person under sub-section (3) of that section have been delegated to the Deputy Commissioners in respect of the Gram Panchayats within their jurisdiction by the Haryana Government notification No. HP-14-69/4464, dated March, 19, 1969 (Annexure P/6 to the writ petition.
(3.) The argument of the learned counsel for the petitioner is that S. 95 (1) is liable to be struck down as being in-valid and inoperative because:- (i) its provisions go against the policy of the Act; and (ii) the power of removal of a Panch being quasi-judicial in nature is a personal power conferred by. the Legislature on the Government and such power can-not be lawfully delegated, and the provision authorising such delegation should itself be declared to he bad.;