LexSTATE OF GUJARAT versus JAMNADAS G. PABRI AND ORS. ETC.
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330 STATE OF GUJARAT v. JAMNADAS G. PABRT AND ORS. ETC. October 3, 1974 (Y. V. CHANDRACHUD AND R. S. SARK.WA, JJ.J Gll}arat P1111dayat Act (1 of 1961) S. 17 (2) am/ 303 A·-Scop1 of Jnterprttal/on of statute3--Meanlng of 'by reason of', 'to hold tlectio11s' an« 'expedient' S~tion 11;(2) of the Gujarat Panchayata Act, 1961, provides that tht normal term of a paDC:hayat Is s yean from the date or its first meeting and that the tcm llOuld be extended by the State Government b7 a period not exceeding one year i• the aggregate, The s.yeair term of the Talulca Panchayat! and the Distri61 Panchayats in tll.1 appellant-State were due to eiipire on February 28, 1973 and March 31, 1973 res· pectively. They were extended first upto August 31, 1973 and September 30, 1973 and then upto February 28, 1974 :md January 1974. Widespread disturballlie3 broke out in the State and the Governor promulgated an Ordinance by which the Slab Government was given power to extend the terms of pancbayata for 2 years imtead of 011e. On l"ebrllary 9, 1974, the State Ministry m!igned and the President of India assumed all function,, of the State Government. The terms of the panchayal were extended upt<> 31st March 1974. The State legislature was dissolved on March IS, 1974 and.Parliament pa!Mtl the ·oujarat Slate Legislature (Delegation of Powers) Act, 1974. Under s. 3 of this Act, the President enacted Gujarat Panchayats (Amendment) Act, 1974 which i•· sened s. 303A in the 1961 Act. On March 31, 1974, the Government iMued a notiA- cation under s. 303A, that wh1:reas the State Government la satisfied that a situatioa exists by reason of disturbances whereby It iJ not expedient to hold e/ections for the reconstitution of the panchayats, the State government orders that all the powers and duties of taluka panchayats should be exercised by the Taluka Development Officer and or the District paJ!JCbayats by the District Development Officer. , The respondents who are presidents of panchayats successfulJy challenlJCd tae notification in the High Court, on the basis that the condition precedent to lhe 1x1r· clae of the power under the section was not satisfied. Allowing the appeal to the Court, HELD : (1) An analysis of s. 303A(l) shows that before a declaration co11lll be made thereunder, two requirements must be rulfilled : (a) existenee of a 6ituatio11 by reason of disturbances in the State; and (b) the satisfaction of the State 1o~er•· ment relatable to such a situation, that it is not expedient to hold election,, for tho reconstitution of a panchayat after the expiry of its term. The first requirement is an objective fact, which, if disputed, must be established objectively as a condition precedent to the exercise of the power; and the l!CCond is an opb ion 01 inference drawn from that objective fact. It is a matter of !ubjective satisfaction of the government and is not justiciable. Once a rea110nabl• nexus between such satisfaction and the facts comtituting the first requirement is shown, the exercise of the power by the government, not being colourable or mofi. vated by ·extraneollll considerations, is not open to judicial review. (33,H-336BJ (2) If the languago of a statute is susceptible of two constructions, the 0111 f11!fils the object i~ to be prefe:rred to the 11lternative which frustratell it (337H] (3) In vfow of the particiilara stated in the Counter-affidavit it is clear that tli1 disturbances in the State condnued throulliout March 1974. Assumina that tho disturbances abated after the dissolution o:t the AS9Clllbly on March 1,, 1974 th• A B c D E F G H A B c 0 F G H OUJAltAT v. JAMNADAS (Sarkaria, 1.) 331 abnormal situation, which was the direct result of the dhturbances must have cont!· nued to exist throughout March 1974. The section speaks of the existence of a si· tuation 'by reason of' disturbances. The expression indicates that the 'disturbances' . and the 'situation' must be proximately connected as cause and effect. It is sufficient if the situation ls the immediate outcome of the disturbances and that it subsist&. [3360-H) (4) The phrase 'to bold elections', understood in a wide sense, will include all stegs such as delimitation of the constituencies, the compilation of electoral rolls ete which Ille a necessary preliminary to the actual conduct of elections, whereas in a restricted sense, it would cover only the actual holding of elections. The word '
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