- (1.) THIS is an application under Article 236 of the Constitution by Shri Amroo Ram who is Chairman of the Municipal Board Shri Dungargarh, for a writ, direction or order in connection with an order passed by the State of Rajasthan on the 6th of september, 1956, with respect to the term of the Municipal Board.
(2.) THE facts, on which this application is based, are these-General election to the Municipal Board took place on the 8th of september, 1953, and the Returning Officer declared the result of the election on that date. But the oath of office was administered to the applicant and other members of the Board on the 12th of December, 1953, by the Sub-divisional Magistrate, Ratangarh, and it is from that date that the Board began to function. The applicant's case is that the board is en-titled to function up to the 11th of December, 1956, for a period of three years under Section 15 of the Rajasthan Town municipalities Act (No. XXIII) of 1951, read with Rule 45 of the rajasthan Town Municipal Election Rules 1951. The Government of Rajasthan, however, by its notification dated 6th of september, 1956, took the view that the term of the members of the municipal Board expired on the 8th of September, 1956. It consequently ordered that the Board was no longer competent to function after that date, and made certain interim arrangements for the administration of the Board, and provided that fresh election should take place by a certain date. It is this order of the Government which is being challenged by the applicant, and his contention is that the view taken by the government that the term of the Municipal Board expired on the 8th of september is incorrect.
(3.) THE relevant section, with which we are concerned, in Section 15 of the rajasthan Town Municipalities Act (No. XXIII) of 1951, and reads as follows - "members elected at a general election or nominated under this Act shall, save as provided in the next following section, or unless they become in the meantime disabled or are removed from office under section 14 or Section 203, hold office for a term of three years, extensible by order of the Government to a term not exceeding in the aggregate four years if on any occasion the Government shall think fit, for reasons which shall be notified together with the order in the rajasthan Gazette, so to extend the same. " It will be at once clear that this section is very unhappily drafted. In the first place, it speaks of the terms of office of members instead of the Board. In the second place, when it fixes the term of three years, it does not specify the starting point when the three years begin, and it is this vagueness which is responsible for the present trouble. We have, however, to interpret this section along with the rules which have been framed to give a meaning to it, which will be in consonance with the principles which apply to local I bodies of this type.;