A. SUBRAMANIAM Vs. THE DISTRICT COLLECTOR OF SALEM DT. AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner herein was the Sanitary Inspector in Sooramangalam Town Panchayat. By G.O. Ms. 802 Rural Development and Local Administration dated 27th March 1974, the Government directed the Sooramangalam Town Panchayat to be constituted into a Municipality, with effect from 1st April 1974. One S.G. Venkataraman, the third respondent herein, who was Sanitary Inspector, Thammampatti Town Panchayat, was the seniormost Sanitary Inspector working in the town panchayats in the district, and therefore, by an order dated 31st March 1974, which is impugned in this writ petition, the Collector of Salem, transferred the third respondent and posted him as Sanitary Inspector, Sooramangalam Town Panchayat, to be constituted into a municipality with effect from 1st April 1974. In order to provide room for this third respondent, the petitioner who was the Sanitary Inspector, Sooramangalam Town Panchayat, was transferred by the same order and posted as Sanitary Inspector, Valapadi Town Panchayat. The petitioner has challenged this order of his transfer from Sooramangalam Town Panchayat to Valapadi Town Panchayat, on the ground that the statutory requirements of S.60(1) of the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1958, hereinafter referred to as the Act, has not been complied with. S. 60, sub -S. (1) of the Act states: - -

(2.) But for the very grave mistake in regard to the legal position committed by the District Collector in the course of the counter -affidavit extracted above, I would not have taken note of this portion at all. I have already extracted S. 60 (1) of the Act and that applies to any officer or servant of the Panchayat (including the executive officer), and there is absolutely nothing in S. 60 (1) to show that it applies only to servants of the Panchayat appointed by the executive officer or over whom the executive officer has got full administrative and disciplinary control, as contended by the District Collector. On the other band, the expression "any officer or servant of the panchayat (including the executive officer)", occurring in S. 60 (1) of the Act will cover all the officers and servants of the Panchayat, irrespective as to who has got administrative or disciplinary control over them. Secondly, S. 58(1) of the Act states that the Government shall have the power to make rules regarding the authorities who may appoint the officers and servants of panchayats and panchayat union councils other than executive officers and commissioner and the classification, methods of recruitment, pay and allowances, discipline and conduct, and conditions of service of such officers and servants. S. 61 states - -

(3.) I am clearly of the opinion that the fact that Sanitary Inspectors have been constituted as a separate cadre under the administrative control of the Collector will in no way affect their status as officers or servants of the Panchayat under S. 60 (1) of the Act. Once they fall within the scope of S. 60 (1) of the Act as officers or servants of the Panchayat, then the requirement of S. 60 (1) will have to be complied with when such an officer is sought to be transferred from one Panchayat to another panchayat. Even assuming that the rules framed by the Government under Ss.58(1) and 61 contain any provisions contrary to the provisions of S. 60 (1), then these rules certainly cannot override the statutory provisions contained in S. 60 (1), but can only be subordinate to S. 60(1). As a matter of fact, as far as I am able to see, there is nothing in the rules referred to above which is contrary to or in conflict with the provisions contained in S. 60 (1) of the Act. It was in the imagination of the Collector who has sworn to the counter affidavit that simply because the Sanitary Inspectors have been constituted into a separate cadre under the Administrative Control of District Collector, they will fall outside the scope of S. 60 (1). No doubt, there is the further erroneous assumption of the District Collector that the officer or servant of the Panchayat contemplated by S. 60 (1) is one over whom the executive officer has got full administrative or disciplinary control. For this assumption, there is absolutely no basis either in the provisions of the Act or in the rules relied on by the Collector himself, and therefore these rules are not of any avail to the first respondent to support or sustain the order of transfer made by him not in conformity with the requirement of S. 60(1) of the Act. Under these circumstances, the writ petition is allowed and the impugned order relating to the transfer of the petitioner from Sooramangalam town Panchayat to Valapadi town panchayat is quashed. There will be no order as to costs.