JAGAT NARAYAN, J. - (1.) THIS is a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution challenging the validity of the Constitution of Panchayat on the ground that a part of a village was included in it in addition to two whole village which is not warranted by Section 3(1) of the Rajasthan Panchayat Act. Section 3(1) runs as follows: The State Government may by notification in the official gazette establish a panchayat for a village or a part of a village or a group of villages not included within the limits of a Municipality.
(2.) UNDER Section 3(1) a Panchayat may be established for a whole village or for a group of whole villages or for a part of one village. The intention is that if the village is a big one two Panchayats may be established for it. But there is no provision for including a part of a village in a PancK -ayat in which other whole villages are included, village Chandrai was not :j a village within the meaning of Section 2(14) of the Act. 'Village' is defined in this sub -section as a local area recorded as a village in the revenue records of the district in which it is situated Chandrai was part of village Nimbi Jodha till a notification was published in the Rajasthan Gazette dated 25 -1 -68 during the pendency of the present writ petition declaring it to be a revenue village. I accordingly allow the writ petition and hold that Chandrai Panchayat is not properly constituted. The Panchayat cannot therefore function as a Panchayat. A copy of this judgment shall be sent to the Government for appointing an Administrator for the area under Section 73 of the Rajasthan Panchayat Act, till fresh elections are held.
(3.) IN the circumstances of the case, I leave the parties to bear their own costs of this writ petition.;