N. H. BHATT, J. ( 1 ) THIS is a petition by two allegedly vigilant members of the respondent no. 1-District Panchayat. They have filed this petition for the relief of issuance of a writ directing the respondents nos. 1 and 2 to follow the procedure laid in sec. 131 (5) (d) of the Gujarat Panchayats Act and to determine in which committees the respondents nos. 2 to 9 are to retain their seats and further to hold the election for the Committees in which their seats become vacant by virtue of the provisions of sec. 131 (5) (a) of the said Act. ( 2 ) IN order to understand the controversy the provisions of sec. 131 of the Gujarat Panchayats Act are required to be referred to. Under sec. 13 (1) the District Panchayat is required to constitute the Committees namely an Executive Committee; A social Justice Committee; An Education Committee; A Production and Cooperation Committee; A Public Health Committee; An Appeal Committee and a Finance Review Committee. Under sub-sec. (2) a provision is made enabling the District Panchayat to constitute one or more committees to execute any work or scheme decided upon by the District Panchayat or to inquire into and report to the District Panchayat on matters which the panchayat may refer to such Committee or committees. Then sub-sec. (5) which is material for our purposes reads as follows:" (5) (A ). No member of the panchayat shall be a member of more than two committees constituted under this section. (Emphasis supplied) (B) If any member is simultaneously or otherwise elected as a member of more than two committees the member shall within ten days from the date or the later of the dates on which he is so elected intimate to the President two of the committees in which he wishes to serve and thereupon his seat in the committee or committees other than the aforesaid two committees shall become vacant; (C) Any intimation given under clause (b) shall be final and irrevocable; (E) Where a member commits default in giving intimation under clause (b) within the period prescribed therein the Panchayat shall determine the two committees In which such member shall retain his seat and thereupon his seat in the committees other than the committees so determined shall become vacant". AT Annexure A to this petition is given the details of the respondents nos. AT Annexure A to this petition is given the details of the respondents nos. 2 to 9 functioning in more than two Committees. It is the contention of the petitioners that these respondents were duty bound to elect from the date of their appointment to the third or the fourth committee as to in which committees they will continue to have their membership and if they failed to do so within 10 days the matter had to go to the Panchayat to decide as to in what committee they shall retain their seats and from which committees they shall be deemed to have vacated their seats. Nothing of the sort having been done either by the respondents nos. 2 to 9 or the respondent no. 1 District Panchayat the petitioners filed this petition in the month of April 1984 to be exact on 11-4-84. ( 3 ) THE petition is heard today. A preliminary objection was raised by Mr. Vakharia appearing for the respondent No. 1 that the petition was liable to be summarily rejected on the ground of gross delay in the facts and circumstances of the case. Inviting my pointed attention to Annexure A at page 14 of the petition and particularly the dates in respect of third and fourth committees to which some of these respondents are made. . members. Mr. Vakharia urged that if the petitioners claimed to be vigilant and interested in the implementation of the legal provision they should have come to this court at the earliest possible moment. I do not think that four oil five months delay is of any significant consequence. As a matter of fact under the law quoted above it is the initial duty of the members elected to more than two Committees to come forth voluntarily and retire from the Committees on which they cannot serve as members. If they did not do so they arose the duty of the District Panchayat to have its attention focused of these provisions but nothing of the sort having been done despite the mandatory provisions of law from which serve is no escape the petitioners knocked the doors of this court. It was expected of the respondent no. 1 -District Panchayat and its august members the respondents nos. 2 to 9 to have acted in accordance with the provisions sec. It was expected of the respondent no. 1 -District Panchayat and its august members the respondents nos. 2 to 9 to have acted in accordance with the provisions sec. 131 (5) of the Act but when they have chosen not to do so the petitioners insistence on the maintenance of the rule of law in accordance with the provisions of the law cannot he brushed aside on a technical plea of there being some delay. ( 4 ) MR. Vakharia. however urged that the bar contained in sec. 131 (5) applies only to statutory Committees mentioned in sec. 131 (1) and not to discretionaly Committees to be constituted by the District Panchayat in its discretion or administrative wisdom. This argument of Mr. Vakharia suffers from two patent infirmities. Firstly. the context of clause (a) of sec. 131 (5) speaks of the Committees constituted under this section. Discretionary committees constituted by the District Panchayat under sub-sec. (2) of sec. 131 are also committees constituted under this section in the sense that they are constituted by the power conferred on the District Panchayat under this section. The second reason militating against this argument is again an equally obvious one. Had the Legislature intended to confine this embargo contained in clause (a) sec. 131 (5) only to the statutory committees its proper and natural place would have been after sub-sec. (1) of sec. 131. The Legislature well advisedly have it the place at serial no. 5 in order of reference and that is why is reasonable nay inevitable in my view to hold that clause (a) sec. 131 (5) is intended to refer to all the Committees of the District Panchayat. Common sense assists us to know the purpose behind this embargo. From the very nature of things and from the very nature of various functions of the different Committees delegation of duties or division of labour is inevitable in the functioning of such a District level Committee. In order to see that there is effective participation from all members who would be able to contribute their mite to the functioning of the Panchayat to the best of their and with a view to see that all members or good many of them are given chance of rendering such services a provision has been made that no member shall continue on more than two Committees. The interpretation which I have placed above is also in consonance with that probable intendment of the Legislature in making provision for membership of only two Committees. So Mr. Vakharias second contention raised before me is negatived. ( 5 ) COMING to section 290a of the Gujarat Panchayats Act it is however. to be stated that under that section the President of the Panchayat (which the present respondent no. 2 is) is entitled to act as the member and obviously in ex-officio member of the Appeal Committee and this provision is made. notwithstanding anything contained in sec. 13. Sec. 290a is reproduced below:"290 Notwithstanding anything contained in section 131 the appellate powers conferred on a District Panchayat under secs. 93. 178 and 290 shall be exercisable by an Appeal Committee of the District Panchayat. which shall consist of the President of the Panchayat and (four) other members of the Panchayat as may be I rom amongst its members. (2) The president of the panchayat shall be ex-officio Chairman of the Appeal Committee. xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx "this means that the bar contained in sec. 131 (5) (a) against Presidents continuing; to be the member in more than two Committees stand relaxed by the Legislature itself in the case of the President (the respondent no. 9 herein for the present ). By way of clarification it is stated that if the President is elected to the Appeal Committee (and not there ex-officio) it cannot he said that he is acquiring second membership of that Committee ex-officio. In order words he cannot claim double membership in that Committee one by way of election and second ex-officio. ( 6 ) IN above view of the matter the petition is required to be substantially allowed. It is therefore. directed that the District Panchayat in the course of three weeks from the date of the receipt of this courts writ by the District Panchayat shall take steps to convene the meeting of the general body at the earliest possible opportunity to decide the question under sec. 131 (5) (d) of the Act. Rule is accordingly made absolute with no order as to costs. At the request of Mr. Vakharia operation of this judgment is stayed for a period of two weeks from today to enable the respondents to have further recourse in accordance with law if may. 131 (5) (d) of the Act. Rule is accordingly made absolute with no order as to costs. At the request of Mr. Vakharia operation of this judgment is stayed for a period of two weeks from today to enable the respondents to have further recourse in accordance with law if may. However in the meantime writ shall go. (PAP) petition allowed. .