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(PER : HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE J.B.PARDIWALA) By this writ application in the nature of a public interest litigation, the petitioner a resident of village Chamariya, Taluka Valia, has raised the issue of effective and proper implementation of the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (for short 'PESA Act, 1996'). To put it briefly, the case of the petitioner is that it is only upon proper implementation of the provisions of the Act that the people hailing from the poor strata of society would get the benefit of the Act and the object of the Act would be subserved. It appears from the affidavit in reply filed on behalf of the respondent No.1 duly sworn by one Shri Nirvan R. Shah, Deputy Secretary, Panchayats, Rural Housing ad C/WPPIL/203/2013 ORDER Rural Development Department, that pursuant to the enactment of the PESA Act, 1996, certain provisions of the Gujarat Panchayats Act, 1993 were amended in the year 1998. In the affidavit in reply filed on behalf of the respondent No.1, the following averments have been made which are reproduced hereinbelow:

"I state that pursuant to the enactment of the PESA Act,1996 certain provisions of the Gujarat Panchayats Act, 1993 were amended in the year 1998. For example, Section 4(e) of the PESA Act provides that:
"Every Gram Sabha shall -
(i) approve the plans, programmes and projects for social and economic development before such plans, programmes and projects are taken up for implementation by the Panchayats at the village level;
(ii) be responsible for the identification or selection of persons as beneficiaries under the poverty alleviation and other programmes;

12. The relevant effect under the Gujarat Panchayats Act, 1993 is the provision of Section 4(2) which is in consonance with Section 4(c) of the PESA Act, 1996. In other words, the provision of Section 4(2) of the Gujarat Panchayats Act, 1993 is consonance with the Section 4(c) of the PESA Act, 1996.

(2) The provisions of Section 9(5)(a)(ia), Section 10(5)(a)(ia), Section 11(5)(a)(ia) of the Gujarat Panchayats Act, 1993 is in consonance with the Section 4(g) and first proviso to Section 4(g) of the PESA Act, 1996.

Thus, it can be seen that the provisions of the PESA Act, 1996 in respect of the reservation of seats and offices of chairpersons in the panchayats have been incorporated in the Gujarat Panchayats Act, 1993 in Section 9, 10,11, 51, 63, and 77. To implement the same the rules have also been framed and are implemented as stated above.

13. So far as the grievance of the petitioner with respect to that various state laws and rules which are not amended in consonance with the provisions of PESA Act, 1996 are concerned, I state that the same is not correct as Section 17A has been inserted after section 17 of the Bombay Money Lenders Act, 1946 which provides for previous sanction of the village panchayat before lending money to a member of Scheduled Tribes residing in the Scheduled Areas of the State. This amendment has been brought about by Gujarat Panchayats (Amendment) Act, 1998.