Manipur High Court
Shri Pheiroijam Heramani Singh vs The State Of Manipur Represented By The ... on 2 December, 2021
Author: Kh. Nobin Singh
Bench: Kh. Nobin Singh
NINGOM Digitally signed
by NINGOMBAM [1]
BAM VICTORIA
Date: 2021.12.02
VICTORIA 13:42:16 +05'30'
IN THE HIGH COURT OF MANIPUR
AT IMPHAL
W.P. (C) No. 795 of 2017
Shri Pheiroijam Heramani Singh, aged about 45 years, S/o
Ph. Biramani Singh, a resident of Charangpat Mamang Leikai,
P.O. & P.S. Thoubal, District Thoubal, Manipur, now Elected
Member of 5-Charangpat Zilla Parishad under Thoubal Zilla
Parishad.
... Petitioner
-Versus-
1. The State of Manipur represented by the Principal
Secretary / Commissioner/ Secretary (RD & PR),
Government of Manipur.
2. The Deputy Commissioner/ District Election Officer,
Thoubal District, Manipur.
3. The ADC/ Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Thoubal Zilla
Parishad, Thoubal.
4. The Thoubal Zilla Parishad through the Chief Executive
Officer (CEO), Thoubal.
5. Hasina Begum, Adhakshya, Thoubal Zilla Parishad,
Thoubal, Office at Thoubal Athokpam DC Complex, P.O. &
P.S. Thoubal, Thoubal District, Manipur - 795138.
... impleaded as respondent No. 5 vide order dated
16-04-2019 passed in M.C.(W.P.(C)) No. 13 of 2019) ... Respondents B E F O R E HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KH. NOBIN SINGH For the petitioner ∷ Shri M. Hemchandra, Sr. Advocate asstd. by Shri Th. Rohitkumar, Advocate For the respondents ∷ Shri H. Debendra, Govt. Advocate & Shri Th. Khagemba, Advocate Date of Hearing ∷ 11-11-2021 Date of Judgment & Order ∷ 02-12-2021 W.P. (C) No. 795 of 2017 Contd.../-
[2]
JUDGMENT AND ORDER [1] Heard Shri M. Hemchandra, learned Senior Advocate assisted by Shri Th. Rohitkumar, learned Advocate appearing for the petitioner; Shri H. Debendra, learned Government Advocate appearing for the State respondents and Shri Th. Khagemba, learned Advocate appearing for the private respondent.
[2] The validity and correctness of the Notification dated 26-07-2017 issued by the Secretary (RD & PR), Government of Manipur and the Notice dated 18-10-2017 issued by the Deputy Commissioner/ District Election Officer, Thoubal District, Manipur are under challenge in this writ petition.
[3.1] According to the petitioner, he is one of the elected members of the Thoubal Zilla Parishad, the election of which was held in the year, 2017 and he was elected from the Charangpat constituency vide Notification dated 17-10-2017 issued by the Principal Secretary (RD & PR), Government of Manipur. In fact, the elections to the Zilla Parishads were held for the purpose of constituting the Zilla Parishads of Bishnupur, Imphal East, Imphal West, Thoubal, Kakching and Jiribam. [3.2] In respect of the General Panchayat Elections, 2012, the Additional Chief Secretary (RD & PR), Government of Manipur did issue a Notification dated 16-07-2012 notifying the reservation of the offices of the Adhyakshas and seats for SC, ST and women Zilla Parishad members in respect of four Zilla Parishads, viz., Imphal East, Imphal W.P. (C) No. 795 of 2017 Contd.../-
[3]West, Thoubal and Bishnupur and as per the said Notification, the offices of the Adhyaksha of Thoubal and Bishnupur were reserved for women. [3.3] In respect of the General Panchayat Elections, 2017 and to the utter shock and surprise of the petitioner, the Secretary (RD & PR), Government of Manipur issued a Notification dated 26-07-2017 notifying the reservation of the offices of the Adhyaksha and seats for SC, ST and women Zilla Parishad members in respect of six Zilla Parishads, viz., Imphal East, Imphal West, Thoubal, Bishnupur, Kakching & Jiribam and as per the Notification, the offices of the Adhyaksha of Thoubal and Bishnupur were reserved for women.
[3.4] Being aggrieved by the said Notification, the petitioner approached the State Government by submitting a representation dated nil, which was received by the office of the Commissioner (RD & PR), Government of Manipur on 31-07-2017, regarding the matter relating to reservation of women for the office of the Adhyaksha of Thoubal Zilla Parishad. However, the same was not considered and disposed of without any justifiable and conceivable reason till date.
[3.5] In the meantime, the Deputy Commissioner/ District Election Officer, Thoubal District, Manipur issued a Notice dated 18-10-2017 informing all the concerned that the First Meeting/ Special Meeting of the members of the Thoubal Zilla Parishad would be held on 26-10-2017 at 11.30 am at the Conference Hall of the Deputy Commissioner, Thoubal for oath taking under Section 107 and for the election of Adhyaksha/ Up-
W.P. (C) No. 795 of 2017 Contd.../-
[4]Adhyaksha under Section 54 of the Manipur Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act, 1994") from amongst the directly elected members of the Thoubal Zilla Parishad by themselves. [3.6] Being aggrieved by the Notification dated 26-07-2017 and the Notice dated 18-10-2017, the instant writ petition was filed by the petitioner. The grounds on which the validity and correctness of the aforesaid Notification and the Notice have been challenged, are inter-alia that although the reservation of the offices of Adhyaksha for women will have to be allotted by rotation to different Zilla Parishads in terms of the provisions of the Act, 1994 and the rules made thereunder, the State respondent failed to follow them. Since the offices of the Adhyaksha had been reserved for women in respect of Thoubal Zillla Parishad and Bishnupur Zilla Parishad in the General Panchayat Elections, 2012, the same ought not to have been reserved for women in respect of Thoubal Zilla Parishad and Bishnupur Zila Parishad in the General Panchayat Elections, 2017 but had been reserved by issuing the Notification dated 26-07-2017 which is highly illegal, improper, arbitrary for the reason that it had been issued in violation of the provisions of the Act, 1994 and rules made thereunder. The fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution of India had been infringed by the authority without any valid reason. If the election of Adhyaksha/ Up-Adhyaksha is held pursuant to the Notification dated 26-07-2017, it would cause serious prejudice to the petitioner and other elected members of the Thoubal Zilla Parishad. The right of the petitioner and other elected members of the Thoubal Zilla Parishad to W.P. (C) No. 795 of 2017 Contd.../-
[5]hold the office of the Adhyaksha in respect of Thoubal Zilla Parishad would be deprived purposely defeating the legislative intent of the Act, 1994 and rules made thereunder.
[4.1] An affidavit-in-opposition was filed on behalf of the respondent No.1 raising an objection as regards the maintainability of the writ petition on the ground that all the Zilla Parishads had not been impleaded as party respondents. The Act, 1994 was enacted by the Parliament in terms of the provisions under Part-IX of the Constitution of India, Section 54(2)(b) thereof provides that not less than one-third of the total number of offices of Adhyaksha in the State from each category which are reserved for persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and those which are unreserved, for women and that the offices reserved under this section shall be allotted by rotation to different Zilla Parishads. The State Government made the rules called the Manipur Panchayati Raj (Election) Rules, 1995 (hereinafter referred to as "the Rule, 1995"). Rule 98 and 99 of the Rules, 1995 deals with the procedure and manner of reservation for women in the offices of Pradhan and Adhyaksha. But unlike the manner of rotation as mentioned in Rule 97, in these rules, the manner of rotation of offices of Adhyaksha for reservation of women has not been mentioned and in other words, no provision is available for rotation.
[4.2] The reservation of offices of Adhyaksha was made by way of rotation in the previous General Panchayat Election, 2012, while there W.P. (C) No. 795 of 2017 Contd.../-
[6]were only four Zilla Parishads in the State. However, because of the creation of two more valley districts i.e. Kakching and Jiribam on 08-12- 2017, the number of Zilla Parishads came to be six and the General Panchayat Election, 2017 was the first election after the creation of these two new Zilla Parishads. Therefore, it was difficult for the Government to conduct the election for reserving the offices by rotation and that it was done by way of draw of lots from amongst the six Zilla Parishads afresh. After the declaration of the election results, a notice dated 18-10-2017 was issued for holding the 1st meeting for oath taking and also for the election of Adhyaksha/ Up-Adhyaksha, etc. to be held on 26-10-2017. As per the programme, the oath taking and the election of Adhyaksha were held. The petitioner also participated in the election without any objection. In the circumstances, the present writ petition had become infructuous as nothing was left for a decision. Since the election to the office of the Adhyaksha and Up-Adhyaksha had already been held in all the six Zilla Parishads in Manipur, including two reserved seats for women, there was nothing to be decided in the present writ petition. In view of the subsequent events, the issue involved herein became only academic in nature and no effective relief could be granted by this Court. [4.3] The stand of the respondent No.5 is similar to that of the respondent No.1 and therefore, the details thereof are not repeated here for the sake of brevity. An objection as regards the maintainability of the writ petition was raised on the ground that the petitioner had waived his right to challenge the notification dated 26-07-2017 and 18-10-2017. The W.P. (C) No. 795 of 2017 Contd.../-
[7]election of the deponent as the Adhyaksha of Thoubal Zilla Parishad was duly held after the petitioner having participated therein. The petitioner was fully aware of the notification dated 26-07-2017 and only after about two and half months therefrom, the Notice dated 18-10-2017 was issued. Nothing prevented the petitioner from challenging them before the election process came to an end and therefore, he was barred by doctrine of estoppel/ acquiescence. The genuineness of Annexure-A/4 to the writ petition was doubtful as no date had been given therein. It looked like a fabricated one and its authenticity needed to be established by an expert body. The instant writ petition was also not maintainable as there is an alternative remedy under the Rules, 1955 for ventilating his grievances.
[5] The short question that arises for consideration by this Court, is as to whether the Notification dated 26-07-2017 and the Notice dated 18-10- 2017 were legally issued in terms of the provisions of the Act, 1994 and in particular, the provisions of Section 54 thereof and the rules made thereunder. If the answer is in the affirmative, what relief would be granted by this Court in the facts and circumstances of the present case ? [6] From the perusal of the pleadings as aforesaid, it is clearly seen that in order to decide the issue involved herein, the provisions of the Act, 1994 and the rules, 1995 will have to be gone into and in other words, the resolution of the issue herein would surely depend upon the interpretation W.P. (C) No. 795 of 2017 Contd.../-
[8]of the provisions of the Act, 1994 and the rules, 1995. Section 54 of the Act, 1994 reads as under:
"54.(1) The elected members of the Zilla Parishad referred to in Section 50 shall, as soon as may be, elect two members from amongst themselves to be respectively Adhyaksha and Up- Adhyaksha thereof and so often as there is a casual vacancy in the office of the Adhyaksha and Up-Adhyaksha, they elect another member from amongst themselves to be Adhyaksha, as the case may be.
Provided that no election shall held if the vacancy is for a period of less than one month.
(2) The State Government, shall in the prescribed manner reserve -
(a) such number of offices of the Adhyaksha and Up- Adhyaksha of Zilla Parishad in the State for persons belonging to the Scheduled Casts and Schedules Tribes shall as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of offices in Zilla Parishad as the population of the Scheduled Castes or of the Scheduled Tribes in the State bear to the total population of the state,
(b) not less than one-third of the total number of offices of Adhyaksha in the State from each category which are reserved for persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and those which are unreserved, for women.
Provided that the offices reserved under this section shall be allotted by rotation to different Zilla Parishads. (3) Save as otherwise provided in this Act, the Adhyaksha or Up- Adhayaksha shall hold office for the term of office of the members of the Zilla Parishad".
The rule 98 & 99 of the Rules, 1995 read as under:
W.P. (C) No. 795 of 2017 Contd.../-
[9]
"98. Reservation of the office of Pradhan:
(1) The Deputy Commissioner shall declare such number, as
nearly as may be, of the offices of Pradhan of the Gram Panchayats in the district reserved for the members of the Scheduled Tribes as bears the same proportion to total number of offices in the district as the population of the Scheduled Tribes in the district bears to the total population of the Panchayat area in the district (2)(a) The Deputy Commissioner shall, out of the Gram Panchayats which have at least one member of the Gram Panchayats belonging to the Scheduled Tribes, choose by lots, one-third of the number (or the nearest whole number, if such one-third is not a whole number) as Panchayats which will have a member of the Scheduled Tribes as the Pradhan in the first term.
(b) The Deputy Commissioner shall, out of the Gram Panchayats mentioned in sub-rule (a), but excluding the panchayats chosen under sub-rule (a), choose by drawing of lots, one-third of the number (or the nearest whole number if such one-third is not a whole number) as panchayats which will have a member of the Scheduled Tribes as the Pradhan in the second term.
(c) The remaining panchayats, mentioned n sub-rule (a), after excluding the panchayats chosen under sub-rule
(a) and (b), will have a member of the Scheduled Tribes as the Pradhan in the third term.
Provided that if the number of panchayats thus chosen is less than the number as determined under sub-rule (1), less the number already chosen under sub-rule (a) and (b), the gap will be filled up by choosing by lots, the panchayats W.P. (C) No. 795 of 2017 Contd.../-
[10]
which had a member of the Scheduled Tribes as Pradhan in the first two terms.
(d) The cycle will be repeated in the subsequent terms, the procedure being the same as detailed in sub-rule
(a) to (c).
(3)(a)Out of the Gram Panchayats chosen under sub-rule 2(a), one third of the Gram Panchayat (or the next whole number if such one-third is not a whole number) chosen by lots, will be declared as the Gram Panchayats which will have the Pradhan elected from amongst the women members of Scheduled Tribes for the first term.
(b) The Deputy Commissioner shall, out of the panchayats chosen under sub-rule 2(b), choose by drawing of lots, one-third of the Panchayats (or the next whole number if such one-third is not a whole number) as panchayats which have a woman member of Scheduled Tribes as the Pradhan in the second term.
(c) The Deputy Commissioner shall, out of the panchayats chosen under sub-rule 2(c), choose by drawing of lots, one-third of the panchayats (or the next whole number if such one-third is not a whole number) as panchayats which will have a woman member of Scheduled Tribes as the Pradhan in the third term.
(4) The Deputy Commissioner shall declare such number, as nearly as may be, of the offices of Pradhan of the Gram Panchayats in the district reserved for the members of the Scheduled Castes as bears the same proportion to the total number of offices in the district as W.P. (C) No. 795 of 2017 Contd.../-
[11]
the population of the Scheduled Castes in the district bears to the total population of the district.
(5) The procedure in sub-rule (2) will be followed for the selection of the panchayats which are to have a member of the Scheduled Castes as the Pradhan.
(6) The procedure in rule (3) will be followed for the selection of the panchayats which are to have a woman member of Scheduled Castes as the Pradhan.
(7) The Deputy Commissioner shall out of all the panchayats in the district, fix the number of the panchayats which will have a woman as the Pradhan of the Gram Panghayat, such number being the one-third of the total number of panchayats or the next whole number if such one-third is not a whole number.
(8) For each term, the Deputy Commissioner shall determine the number of the Gram Panchayats which are to have women from the categories other than the members of the Scheduled Tribes and scheduled Castes as Pradhan by subtracting the number determined under sub-rule (3) and (5) from the number of Gram Panchayats which should have women elected to the office of Pradhan.
(9) The Deputy Commissioner shall select, by drawing lotsthe Gram Panchayats which will have a woman as the Pradhan from amongst the Gram Panchayats not included under sub-rule (2) and (5).
99. Reservation of offices of Adhyaksha:
The procedure outlines in rule 98 will be followed by the Commissioner (RD & PR) for selection of the Zilla Parishads in which the office of Adhyaksha will be reserved for the members W.P. (C) No. 795 of 2017 Contd.../-[12]
of the Scheduled Tribes ad Scheduled Cstes and Women members of the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes and for women from amongst the general category."
[7.1] It is true that Part-IX, consisting of Article 243-243-O, came to be inserted in the Constitution by the 73rd amendment and it confers certain powers on local self-government. It promises duration of five years, free and fair election, representation of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes in the administration of institutions of local self-Government. In tune with the provisions of the said Articles, the Act, 1994 was enacted by the State Legislature. Section 48 provides for the establishment of Zilla Parishad for a district while Section 49 provides for the composition thereof and the numbers of the elected members of the Zilla Parishads are to be determined in terms of the provisions of Section 50. Section 51 provides for the reservation of the Scheduled Caste; Scheduled Tribes and women. Section 54 which is quite relevant for the present case, provides for the election of the Adhyaksha and Up-Adhyaksha. As per sub-Section (1), the elected members shall elect two members from amongst themselves to be Adhyaksha and Up-Adhyaksha. The State Government shall reserve such number of offices of the Adhyaksha and Up-Adhyaksha for persons belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes depending upon their population in the manner as prescribed in sub-Section (2). Sub-Section (2)(b) provides that one-third of the total number of offices of Adhyaksha from each category shall be reserved for women. The proviso thereto states that the offices reserved under Section 54 shall be allotted by rotation to different Zilla Parishads.
W.P. (C) No. 795 of 2017 Contd.../-[13]
[7.2] Rule 98 of the Rules, 1995 lays down the procedure for reservation of the office of Pradhan of the Gram Panchayats while Rule 99 provides that the procedure outlined in sub-Rule 98 will be followed by the Commissioner (RD & PR) for selection of the Zilla Parishads in which the office of Adhyaksha will be reserved for the members of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes; their women members and for women from amongst the general category.
[8] The conjoint reading of Section 54 of the Act, 1994 and Rules 98 & 99 of the Rules, 1995 makes it very clear that there shall be reservation of the offices of Adhyaksha for the persons belong to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes and women and the reservation will have to be made as the procedure laid down therein. In other words, these provisions of Section 54 and Rules 98 & 99 are plain and unambiguous with no requirement of any interpretation thereof. In addition to that, the proviso to sub-Section (2) of Section 54 makes it very that the offices so reserved for them and in particular for women, shall be allotted by rotation to different Zilla Parishads. Moreover, it may be noted that the legality and correctness of any of the provisions of the Act, 1994 and rules made thereunder, is not the subject matter in issue in the present writ petition and therefore, no observation can be made by this Court in respect thereof.
[9] In the present case, it is not in dispute that in the General Panchayat Election, 2012, the offices of the Adhyakshas in respect of Thoubal and W.P. (C) No. 795 of 2017 Contd.../-[14]
Bishnupur Zilla Parishads were reserved for women. This reservation for women appears to have been made in terms of the provisions of Section 54 of the Act, 1994 and in particular, the proviso to sub-Section 2 thereof which states that the reservation shall be allotted by rotation. At that point of time, since there were only four Zilla Parishads in the State, the reservation of the offices of Adhyakshas for women ought to have been made, by following the method of rotation, for the remaining two Zilla Parishads only namely Imphal-West and Imphal-East Zilla Parishads, when the General Panchayat Election, 2017 was to be held. The allegation of the petitioner is that the State Government had failed to do that. In other words, the State Government had violated the provisions of Section 54 of the Act, 1994 and in particular, the proviso to sub-Section (2) thereof, when it reserved the offices of the Adhyaksha of Thoubal and Bishnupur Zilla Parishads again for women in the General Panchayat Election, 2017 vide order dated 26-07-2017 issued by the Secretary (RD & PR), Government of Manipur. This allegation is not specifically denied by the State respondent and all that the State Government has submitted, is that Rule 98 and 99 of the Rules, 1995 deals with the procedure and manner for reservation of seats of women in the offices of Pradhan and Adhyaksha. In these rules, the manner of rotation of the offices of Adhyaksha for reservation of women has not been mentioned but the reservation thereof was made by way of rotation in the previous General Panchayat Election, 2012, when there were only four Zilla Parishads in the State. However, because of the creation of two more valley districts W.P. (C) No. 795 of 2017 Contd.../-[15]
namely Kakching and Jiribam on 08-12-2017, the number of Zilla Parishads stood increased to six. Since the General Panchayat Election, 2017 was the first election after the creation of these two new Zilla Parishads, it was difficult for the Government to conduct the election of Adhyaksha by reserving its offices for women by rotation and accordingly, it was done by way of draw of lots from amongst the six Zilla Parishads afresh.
[10] The language of proviso to sub-Section (2) of Section 54 is plain and unambiguous which requires no interpretation at all. It states that the offices reserved under this section shall be allotted by rotation to different Zilla Parishads. It is nowhere stated therein that in the event of the number of the Zilla Parishads being decreased or increased, the offices of Adhyaksha need not be allotted by rotation to different Zilla Parishads which means that the rotation of reservation for women in respect of the office of Adhyaksha is indispensable. Any other method is not contemplated therein. Admittedly, this rotation had not been done at all in the present case which itself was absolutely contrary to the provisions of Section 54 of the Act, 1994. Rule 98 & 99 of the Rules, 1995 may be silent about the manner in which the rotation will have to be done. But these rules cannot prevail upon the provisions of Section 54 of the Act, 1993 and in particular, the proviso to sub-section (2) thereof. Even otherwise, in order to understand the intent of the State Legislature, only the rules 98 & 99 cannot be read in isolation and all the provisions of the Act, 1994 and the rules made thereunder, will have to be read together.
W.P. (C) No. 795 of 2017 Contd.../-
[16]Rule 97 provides for reservation of seats for women in Panchayats and the reservation of seats for women shall be rotated amongst constituencies in a Panchayat for over three terms of the Panchayats. The manner of rotation as mentioned therein is that for the first term of the Panchayat, the seats will be chosen by draw of lots excluding seats reserved for SC and ST. For the second term, the seats will be chosen by draw of lots from amongst them excluding previously reserved seats for women or reserved seats for SC & ST for reservation of women in the case of Gram Panchayat and Zilla Parishads and so on. For the third term, the reservation for women will be from amongst the seats which had not been previously reserved for women. The same cycle of reservation for women shall repeat from the fourth term onwards. By taking a cue from the provisions of Rule 97, the rotation of reservation for women in the office of Adhyaksha ought to have been done but the State Government had failed to do that as well. The contention of the State Government that after the creation of two new Zilla Parishads, it was difficult for the State Government to conduct the election of Adhyaksha by rotating the reservation of its office for women, appears to be incorrect. The State Government could have thought of the manner of rotation well before the General Panchayat Election, 2017 was held because it is the State Government which got the Act, 1994 enacted by the State Legislature. The reservation of office of Adhyaksha for women by rotation was possible in the manner aforesaid hereinabove. Admittedly, there were four Zilla Parishads at the time when the General Panchayat W.P. (C) No. 795 of 2017 Contd.../-
[17]Election, 2012 was held and the offices of Adhyaksha of Thoubal and Bishnupur Zilla Parishads were reserved for women. Therefore, the offices of Adhyaksha of Imphal-West and Imphal-East ought to have been reserved for women in the General Panchayat Election, 2017. But given the fact that the number of Zilla Parishads did increase to six in the meantime as alleged by the State Government, the reservation for women from amongst the offices of Adhyakshas ought to have been made by rotation through draw of lots excluding the offices of Adhyaksha which had been previously reserved for women, in the sense that the offices of Adhyakshas ought to have been chosen for reservation of women by draw of lost from amongst the Zilla Parishads namely Imphal- West, Imphal-East, Kakching and Jiribam only. The failure on the part of the State Government of doing that, had resulted in a situation where the offices of Adhyaksha of Thoubal and Bisnupur had been reserved for women consecutively for two terms which is not permissible in law. It was an absolute violation of the provisions of Section 54 of the Act, 1994 and in particular, the proviso to sub-Section (2) thereof. [11] A corollary issue as to what relief would be granted by this Court, has arisen in the facts and circumstances of the present case. The respondents have raised objections as regards the maintainability of the writ petition on different grounds. It has been contended by the respondents that the writ petition was not maintainable for the reason that the Notification dated 26-07-2017 and the notice dated 18-10-2017 were not challenged in time and by the time when the writ petition was filed, the W.P. (C) No. 795 of 2017 Contd.../-
[18]election process of the Zilla Parishads and that of the office of Adhyaksha had completed for all purposes. The petitioner, without any protest against the said election processes of Zilla Parishads and that of the offices of Adhyaksha, had participated therein. Therefore, the contention of the respondents has merit and substance. It is not in dispute that the Secretary (RD & PR), Government of Manipur issued the Notification dated 26-07-2017 by which the offices of the Adhyaksha of Thoubal and Bishnupur were reserved for women. Being aggrieved by it, the petitioner appears to have submitted a representation dated nil, which was received by the office of the Commissioner (RD & PR), Government of Manipur on 31-07-2017. But although it was not considered, he did not challenge its validity and correctness till 18-10-2017 when the Deputy Commissioner/ District Election Officer, Thoubal District, Manipur issued a Notice informing all the concerned that the First Meeting/ Special Meeting of the members of the Thoubal Zilla Parishad would be held on 26-10-2017. The instant writ petition was filed only on 25-10-2017 on which day itself, it was considered and this Court, while issuing notice to the respondents, directed that the result of the election of the office of Adhyaksha, to be held on 26-10-2017, should be subject to the outcome of the writ petition. Admittedly, other Zilla Parishads were not made as party respondents nor were the Adhyakshas thereof made party respondents and since the election of the offices of Adhyaksha of all Zilla parishads had been held, all the Adhyakshas had started discharging their duties and have been rendering their services till date. Any interference by this Court at this W.P. (C) No. 795 of 2017 Contd.../-
[19]stage in respect of the Adhyaksha of Thoubal Zilla Parishad would create an adverse impact upon other Adhyakshas of Zilla Parishads which may consequently disturb the functioning of the Zilla Parishads. In other words, in the event of any direction be issued by the Court directing that the office of Adhyaksha of Thoubal Zilla Parishad be declared unreserved, one of the offices of adhyakshas of other Zilla Parishads would be required to be declared as reserved for women. If such thing is allowed to happen by this Court at the back of other Zilla Parishads and their Adhyakshas, it may create a legal complication. Moreover, the term of the Zilla Parishads is going to expire by the middle of next year, 2022. Having considered the peculiar facts and circumstances of the present case, this Court is of the view that it may not appropriate for this Court to interfere with the impugned notification/ notice. [12] For the reasons as aforesaid, the instant writ petition stands disposed of with the direction that the State Government shall take into account the observations made hereinabove, as and when the elections of Adhyaksha of Zilla Parishads in the State are held/ conducted by the State Government.
JUDGE
FR / NFR
Devananda
W.P. (C) No. 795 of 2017 Contd.../-