R. K. ABICHANDANI, J. ( 1 ) THE petitioners seek a declaration that the resolution dated 31st October 1993 at annexure C to the petition passed by the Government under Section 4 (8) of the Bombay Primary Education Act 1947 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) is bad in law and have prayed for quashing the same. The petitioner No. 1 is the Chairman of the Municipal School Board Ahmedabad and the petitioner No. 2 is the Vice-Chairman. The petitioner No. 3 is In-charge Administrative Officer of the School Board. ( 2 ) INITIALLY when the petition was filed it was apprehended by the petitioners that an Administrator would be appointed under Section 56 of the Act to take over the charge of the School Board. However it appears that on 31 st October 1993 the impugned resolution at annexurec came to be passed and the petition was therefore amended with a view to challenge the impugned resolution. ( 3 ) ADMITTEDLY the term of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation came to an end on 31st October 1993 As a consequence thereof by virtue of the provisions contained under Section 4 (9) of the Act the term of office of the members of the School Board ceased on the expiry of the term of the Municipal Corporation which is an authorised Municipality. The Government thereupon issued the impugned resolution purporting to have been made under Section 4 (8) of the Act nominating 15 persons to be the members of the School Board. ( 4 ) IT has been contended on behalf of the petitioners that Section 4 (8) of the Act does not contemplate appointment of members to the entire School Board. It was argued that this provision contemplated situation arising before the expiry of the term of the office of the members of the School Board. It was further argued that the requirements of Section 4 (8) were not in existence and therefore the impugned resolution could not have been passed. It was also contended that the election process as contemplated under the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation Act had already commenced and the very nature Of directions contained in the statutory provisions are now incorporated in the Statute. The election can therefore be completed within reasonable time as contemplated under the provisions of Section 4 (8) of the Act. It was also contended that the election process as contemplated under the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation Act had already commenced and the very nature Of directions contained in the statutory provisions are now incorporated in the Statute. The election can therefore be completed within reasonable time as contemplated under the provisions of Section 4 (8) of the Act. The learned Counsel therefore argued that the exercise of power of issuing the impugned resolution was colourable and bad in law. It was also contended that the manner of the exercise of power showed that it was politically motivated and done at the instance of Honble the Chief Minister and Honble the Education Minister. He contended that though no personal malafide is alleged this was a case of legal malafides which ought to be inferred from the manner in which the power is exercised in contravention of the requirement of law. He finally argued that the nomination of some persons mentioned in the impugned resolution at annexure C was bad in law. On this count he submitted that persons at serial Nos. 4 77 and 8 were Government Officers who could not have been appointed as members of the Board. It was submitted that not more than one Government Officer could have been appointed as a member of the Board. He submitted that even person at serial No. 3 in the second part of the resolution was a Government Officer. It was also contended on this that the resolution did not show that these persons had resided for six months immediately preceding their nomination in the city of Ahmedabad and therefore they were disqualified from being nominated as members. ( 5 ) THE learned Additional Advocate General supported the action of the Government. It was also contended on this that the resolution did not show that these persons had resided for six months immediately preceding their nomination in the city of Ahmedabad and therefore they were disqualified from being nominated as members. ( 5 ) THE learned Additional Advocate General supported the action of the Government. The provisions of Section 4 (8) 4 and 4 (11) of the Act which are relevant for the purpose of the present discussion read as under4 (8) - If the State Government is satisfied that any election (including a bye-election) cannot for any reason be held at all or cannot be completed within such period as the State Government considers reasonable or has not resulted in the return of the required number of qualified persons willing to take office the State Government shall nominate from amongst persons who would have been qualified to be elected the required number of persons as members of the school board and the persons so nominated shall be deemed to have been duly elected under sub- section (5): Provided that if at any time after the nomination of such persons as members of the school Board the State Government is satisfied that fresh election (including a bye-election) can be duly held the State Government may by notification published in the Official Gazette direct that the members so nominated shall cease to hold office with effect from such date as may be specified in such notification notwithstanding the fact that the term of office of such members for which they had been nominated has not expired. 4 (9) - Except as otherwise provided in this Act the term of office of the members of a school board shall cease on the expiry of the term of the electing district local board or authorised municipality: Provided that the term of office of such members shall not be deemed to expire by reason only of the fact that the district local board or authorised municipality as the case may be is dissolved or superseded. 4 Notwithstanding the cessation or expiry of the term of office of the members of any school board under sub-section 4 (8) (9) or (10) they shall continue in office until the members of a new school board are elected appointed or nominated as the case may be. 4 Notwithstanding the cessation or expiry of the term of office of the members of any school board under sub-section 4 (8) (9) or (10) they shall continue in office until the members of a new school board are elected appointed or nominated as the case may be. ( 6 ) IT is obvious from the plain reading of Section 4 (8) that the contingency not only of a by-election but any election which cannot be held or completed is taken care of. The words any election are of wide import. Therefore even if election of all members required to be elected to the Board cannot be held or completed within such period as the Government considers reasonable the provisions of Section 4 (8) will be attracted. There is no reason to confine the operation of Section 4 (8) of the Act in the situation where there election only to a few seats is to be held or completed. The term of the members of the existing school board expired on 31st October 1993 by virtue of Section 4 (9) of the Act because it was co-terminus with the term of the Corporation. The proviso to Section 9 would be attracted only in cases where the authorised municipality is dissolved or superseded and therefore it has no application in the present case where the office of the members of the school board has ceased due to expiry of the term of the electing authorised municipality. ( 7 ) THE continuance of the members of the Board on the expiry of the term of their office is contemplated by sub-section (11) of Section 4 of the Act. It is only a transitional provision in nature and such members would continue only until the members of a new school board are elected appointed or nominated as the case may be. It is therefore obvious that even where the members of the school Board are nominated the outgoing members of the existing board cannot continue in office after such nomination. It is therefore obvious that even where the members of the school Board are nominated the outgoing members of the existing board cannot continue in office after such nomination. Even Rule 13 of the Bombay Primary Education Rules 1949 which provides that on expiry of the term of office of a school board the Chairman and Vice-Chairman shall continue to perform the current administrative duties of their office until such time as a new Chairman and Vice-Chairman shall have been duly elected and have taken charge of their duties cannot authorise their continuance in the office of Chairman and Vice-Chairman after the members are nominated for constituting the board and they elected the Chairman and Vice-Chairman under the provisions of Section 10 (1) of the Act. In other words neither the provisions of Section 4 (11) nor Rule 13 create any right in favour of the outgoing members and the outgoing office bearers to continue in office beyond election appointment and nomination of new members and election of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman by them. ( 8 ) IT is clear from the provisions of Section 4 that it is the State Government that has to consider whether the election cannot be completed within-a reasonable period. If it cannot be so completed the Government can nominate persons qualified to be elected as members of the Board. In this context we may take note of the provision of Section 6c of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation (Gujarat Second Amendment) Act 1993 which reads as under6c (1) - Notwithstanding anything contained in Section 6b where the duration of the Corporation has already expired before the commencement of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations (Gujarat Second Amendment) Act 1993 (hereinafter referred to as the said date) or is due to expire within one year from the said date the election to constitute such Corporation shall be held in accordance with the provisions of the said amended Act and completed within one year from the said date. (2) Where the duration of existing Corporation expires after one year from the said date the election to constitute such Corporation shall be completed before the expiry of its duration. (2) Where the duration of existing Corporation expires after one year from the said date the election to constitute such Corporation shall be completed before the expiry of its duration. ( 9 ) IN the instant case admittedly the term of the Corporation had expired on 31st October 1993 and therefore in view of the above transitory provision the election to constitute the Corporation is required to be completed within one year from the date of the commencement of the Amendment Act i. e. before 17th August 1994 Under Section 5 of the Amendment Act the State Government has to determine the number of wards and the number of Councillors. However thereafter many steps are required to be taken towards holding and completing the election and there is now the Election Commission whose functions are prescribed in that regard. Therefore mere announcement of number of wards and number of councillors cannot lead to a conclusion that the election would take place within a few days or within a short time. The concept of reasonable time under Section 4 (8) of the Act has relevance in context of the constitution of the school board. The constitution of the school board depends on the constitution of the electing authorised municipality which does not appear to be taking place in immediate future. Even after the authorised municipality is constituted the election of the Board will have to be done as per the provisions contained in Schedule C under Rule 6 of the said Rules. Schedule C lays down the time bound programme for the election and it would appear that the Board would be elected within a couple of months only after the Corporation gets constituted. The Board has various statutory functions to discharge. During the interregnum period the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman can only discharge current administrative duties as contemplated by Rule 13. Schedule C lays down the time bound programme for the election and it would appear that the Board would be elected within a couple of months only after the Corporation gets constituted. The Board has various statutory functions to discharge. During the interregnum period the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman can only discharge current administrative duties as contemplated by Rule 13. Therefore when there is no likelyhood of the members of the Board being elected in near future in view of the fact that the constitution of the Corporation would take time and could be done before 17th August 1994 and further time would be taken as aforesaid even after the constitution of the Corporation and State Government has for that reason been satisfied that the election to the Board cannot be completed within a reasonable period it cannot be said that the State Government has acted arbitrarily or in colourable exercise of its powers. The allegations or malafides which were read out from the petition are vague and general in nature and cannot be relied upon even at this stage. ( 10 ) IF nominations of any person from amongst those who are mentioned in the impugned resolution at annexure C to the petition are defective then it would be for the Government to correct it. On the question of requirement of residence if any of these nominees are disqualified then the learned Additional Advocate General has stated that the State Government shall correct itself suitably. The allegations regarding disqualification on the ground of residence are inferential and therefore there is no valid ground at this stage to act on a mere allegation that some of the members might be disqualified for not satisfying the criteria of residence. As regards the employees of the Government being appointed as provided in Section 4 (4) of the Act. when the State Government has to appoint a limited number of members as contemplated by Section 4 (2) the State Government can appoint only one Officer to be member. This is taken care of in the second part of the impugned resolution. However there is no such embargo against nominating the Government officers when elections cannot be held or completed in reasonable time. It was argued that Government employees under their Conduct Rules were debarred from accepting any employment. It would however appear that the present nominations may not amount to accepting any employment. However there is no such embargo against nominating the Government officers when elections cannot be held or completed in reasonable time. It was argued that Government employees under their Conduct Rules were debarred from accepting any employment. It would however appear that the present nominations may not amount to accepting any employment. It is stated at the bar that no remuneration is paid to the members who are so nominated. ( 11 ) IN view of the above discussion there is no substance in this petition and it deserves to be summarily rejected. The petition is therefore rejected. Notice is discharged with no order as to costs. Ad interim relief stands vacated. ( 12 ) AT this stage the learned Counsel appearing for the petitioners submits that the petitioners desire to approach the appellate forum against this decision and therefore the petitioner Nos. 1 and 2 should be allowed to function as Chairman and Vice-Chairman in consonance with Rule 13 of the Rules. ( 13 ) WITH a view to enable the petitioners to approach the appellate forum it is directed that the petitioner Nos. 1 and 2 shall continue to function as Chairman and Vice-Chairman for discharging current administrative duties as contemplated under Rule 13 of the Rules upto 23. 11 Petition Rejected. .