Rajendra Nath Mittal, J. - (1.) THIS judgment will dispose of Civil Writ Petition Nos. 3053, 3054 and 3055 of 1978, which contain common questions of law. The facts in the judgment are being given from Civil Writ Petition No. 3054 of 1978.
(2.) BRIEFLY , the case of the Petitioner is that he was elected as Sarpanch, Gram Panchayat Kaushak during the elections of 1964 and 1971. The State of Haryana later issued a notification dated June 2, 1978, dividing the Gram Sabha Kaushak into seven Gram Sabhas namely, Kaushak, Joriabad, Bhawana, Achheja, Allahabad, Karimpur and Kudabadpur. It is alleged that the abovesaid villages except Kaushak were not villages but were Majras and the State could not create seven Gram Sabhas of different Majras in the revenue estate of Kaushak. He has, therefore, prayed that the impugned notification be quashed. The only contention of the learned Counsel for the Petitioner is that there could not be 7 Gram Sabha areas in the names of Majras in one revenue estate. He argues that the 6 Majras, namely Ajoribad, Bhawana, Achheja, Allahabad, Karimpur and Kudabadpur were not villages as defined in the Act. He further argues that, therefore, the notification is liable to be quashed.
(3.) I have given due consideration to the argument of the learned Counsel and find force in it. Section 4 of the Gram Panchayat Act, 1952 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) relates to demarcation of Sabha areas and Section 5 to establishment and constitution of Gram Panchayat. The relevant portions of the said Sections are as follows: - 4(1) Government may, by notification declare any village or group of contiguous villages with a population of not less than five hundred to constitute one or more sabha areas. Provided further that the Government may in particular case, relax the limit of five hundred. 5(1) Government may, by notification, establish a Gram Panchayat by name in every Sabha area. From a reading of the aforesaid sections it is clear that the Government can declare any village with a population of not less than five hundred to constitute one or more Sabha areas. It can also declare a group of villages with a similar population to constitute one or more Sabha areas. The Government may also establish a Gram Panchayat by name in every Sabha area. Thus for constituting a Gram Sabha it is necessary that there should be a village or group of villages having population of five hundred or more. The word 'village' has been defined in Section 3(q) of the Act as follows: 'village' means any local area, recorded as a revenue estate in the revenue records of the district in which it is situated. The above definition shows that an area recorded as a revenue estate in the revenue records can be called a village. In other words, unless a village is recorded as a revenue estate it does not fall within the definition of a village.;