117. Debts, obligations, contracts and pending proceedings. -
(1)All debts and obligations incurred and all contracts made by or on behalf of the Gaon Sabha before the date referred to in sub-section (1) of Section 115 and subsisting on the said date shall be deemed to have been incurred and made by the Gram Panchayat in exercise of the powers conferred on it by this Act and shall continue in operation accordingly.(2)All proceedings pending before any authority of the said Gaon Sabha on the said date, which under the provisions of this Act, are required to be instituted before or undertaken by the Gram Panchayat shall be transferred to and continued by the Gram Panchayat, and all other such proceedings shall, so far as may be, be transferred to and continued by such authority before or by whom they have to be instituted or undertaken under the provisions of this Act.(3)All appeal pending before any authority of the said Gaon Sabha on the said date shall so far as may be practicable be disposed of, as if there was a Gram Panchayat when they were filed.(4)All prosecutions instituted by or on behalf of the said Gaon Sabha and all suits and other legal proceedings instituted by or against the said Gaon Sabha or any officer of the said Gaon Sabha pending on the said date, shall be continued by or against the Gram Panchayat or the officer, as the case may be, as if there was a Gram Panchayat constituted when such prosecution, suit or proceeding was instituted.
