( 1 ) HEARD learned counsel for the parties at length and perused the record of the case. ( 2 ) OM Prakash Singh, the petitioner before us, has approached this Court through present writ petition under Article 226, Constitution of India for following reliefs -"it is, therefore, Most Respectfully prayed that this Honble Court may graciously be pleased to: 1. Issue, a writ, order or direction in the nature of prohibition to the respondents restraining them from removing the petitioner from the post of Vice-Chairman of Executive Committee. 2. Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus directing the respondents not to remove the petitioner from the office of Vice-Chairman of Executive Committee. 3. Issue any other writ, order or direction which this Honble Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case. 4. Award costs to petitioner. "as also agreed at the bar, the decision of the present petition depends upon interpretation of Section 51 of the Act. We may reproduce, for convenience, Section 51, of the Act-"51. Constitution and term of Executive Committee.- (1) The Executive Committee shall consist of- (a) the (Nagar Pramukh) who shall be ex officio Chairman of the Executive Committee; and (b) twelve persons to be elected by the Corporation out of Sabhasads - (2) The Executive Committee shall at its first meeting and, as often thereafter as may be necessary on account of a vacancy in the office of Vice-Chairman, elect one of its members to be its Vice-Chairman. (3) A Vice-Chairman shall cease to hold office as soon as he ceases to be a member of the Executive Committee. (4) The persons referred to in Clause (b) of sub-section (1) shall be elected by the Corporation at its first meeting after general elections. (3) A Vice-Chairman shall cease to hold office as soon as he ceases to be a member of the Executive Committee. (4) The persons referred to in Clause (b) of sub-section (1) shall be elected by the Corporation at its first meeting after general elections. (5) One-half of the members of the Executive Committee shall retire every succeeding year at noon on the first day of the month in which the first meeting of the Corporation mentioned in sub-section (4) was held : provided that all the members of the Executive Committee in office when general elections are held shall retire from office on the election of a new Committee under sub-section (6) The members who shall retire under sub-section (5) one year after their election under sub-section (4) shall be selected by lot at such time previous to the date for retirement specified in sub-section (5) and in such manner as the Chairman of the Executive Committee may determine, and in succeeding years the members who shall retire under this section shall be those who have been longest in office : provided that, in the case of a member who has been re-appointed, the term of his office for the purposes of this sub-section shall be computed from the date of his re-appointment. (7) the Corporation shall at its meeting held in the month preceding the date of retirement specified in sub-section (5) appoint fresh members of the Executive Committee to fill the offices of those who are due to retire on the said date. (8) A casual vacancy in the seat of a member of the Committee shall be filled by electing a member for the remainder of the term of the member outgone : provided that where the remainder of the term of the Committee is less than two months, the vacancy shall not be filled unless the Corporation resolves otherwise. (9) A retiring member shall be eligible for re-election. " ( 3 ) NAGAR Nigam, Varanasi (called the Corporation) is constituted under the provisions of Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporations Adhiniyam, 1959 (as amended up to date), called the Act. Its General Election took place some where in November, 2000 and its Sabhasads were elected as required under the Act. 309. (9) A retiring member shall be eligible for re-election. " ( 3 ) NAGAR Nigam, Varanasi (called the Corporation) is constituted under the provisions of Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporations Adhiniyam, 1959 (as amended up to date), called the Act. Its General Election took place some where in November, 2000 and its Sabhasads were elected as required under the Act. 309. htm@@@ ( 4 ) RELEVANT dates with reference to the corresponding provisions under the Act, not in dispute, are given in chronological order for appreciating respective arguments of the parties on either side. ( 5 ) PRESENT Writ Petition was filed in this Court on December 29, 2002. The matter before this bench came up for hearing on January 7, 2003. Contesting respondents had put in their appearance through sri C. K. Parekh, Advocate and parties exchanged their pleading by filing Counter Affidavit and Rejoinder Affidavit. ( 6 ) LEARNED counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that reading of the provisions of Section 51 of the Act shows that when a member of the Executive Committee (who also happens to be Vice-Chairman of the Committee) retires under sub-section (6) of Section 51 of the Act along with other five members by virtue of being longest in the office and is re-elected and re-appointed by virtue of the provisions contained in the proviso added to Section 51 (6) r/w Section 51 (9) then in that contingency there is no break in the term and such a member shall be deemed to continue without break as members of the executive committee and, consequently, continue to enjoy - the office of and privilege as Vice-chairman (though elected on the basis of his initial expired term as member of the Executive Committee ). ( 7 ) LEARNED counsel for the Petitioner, further argued that there is no provision in the Act, which may require any formality, like subscribing oath or issuance of any order etc. for filling up of vacancy of retiring Executive Members after election or re-election. In other words, a retiring member, if he happened to be Vice-Chairman, should continue without break as member and consequently continue without break, as Vice-chairman of the Executive Committee as if he never discontinued as member. for filling up of vacancy of retiring Executive Members after election or re-election. In other words, a retiring member, if he happened to be Vice-Chairman, should continue without break as member and consequently continue without break, as Vice-chairman of the Executive Committee as if he never discontinued as member. ( 8 ) THE Petitioner, in support of his contention, placed reliance upon the Apex Court judgment in the case of Harbhajan Singh v. Press Council of India, (2002) 3 SCC 722 : AIR 2002 SC 1351 (Pr. 5, 6, 7 and 11 ). ( 9 ) LEARNED counsel for the respondents, on the other hand submits that in case of re-election, a member of the Executive Committee gets re-elected/re-appointed. ( 10 ) LEARNED counsel for the Corporation referred to various sub-sections of Section 51 to point out that Legislature has used two different expressions, namely re-appointment and re-election which are interchangeable and, according to him, the language implied by the Legislature is indicative, in an unambiguous manner, that when a member retires a vacancy is caused in the office of member of Executive Committee which is required to be filled by re-election/re-appointment. According to the respondents counsel there are two distinct events; namely, a member shall retire under Section 51 (6) when vacancy in the concerned office is caused and secondly when it is filled by induction of fresh members who is re-appointed/re-elected. According to him, without break in term there cannot be the contingency of filling it. It added that cessation of term and its fresh continuance (in case of an earlier member) may be in such close proximity that term may appear to be in continuity but, in the eye of law, there is a point of juncture, i. e. point wherein earlier term comes to an end and next term starts. Learned counsel for the respondents, in support of his contention, refers to the proviso in Section 51 (6) which provides that "member who has been re-appointed, the term of his office for the purposes of this section shall be computed to be from the date of his re-appointment. " ( 11 ) BEFORE we venture to discuss and make an endeavour to ascertain the exact intention of the Legislature it will be useful to refer to the dictionary meaning of certain expressions used in Section 51 of the Act. " ( 11 ) BEFORE we venture to discuss and make an endeavour to ascertain the exact intention of the Legislature it will be useful to refer to the dictionary meaning of certain expressions used in Section 51 of the Act. Legal Glossary 1983 Edition : published by Ministry of Department of Law, Justice and Company Affairs, Government of India. PAGE 19 "appoint" -"to designate a person to discharge the duties of an office or trust; to nominate (Matter is vernacular Omitted-Ed.) To settle (Matter is vernacular Omitted-Ed.)page 221 "retire" -"to withdraw from office to withdraw from business ( (Matter is vernacular Omitted-Ed.) retire from service (Matter is vernacu-lar Omitted-Ed. ). . . . . . . . . . . . retire by rotation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " page 83 "elect" -"to cast vote for the purpose of selecting members of any mu-nicipal or other authority. . . . . . . . . . the method of selection which is, by or under any law prescribed, as by election; to select by election. . . . . . . . . . . . . " blacks Law Dictionary Revised Fourth Edition 1968 page 128 appoint - "to designate, ordain, prescribe, nominate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . settle, also to assign authority to a particular use, task or office, allot, designated. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " page 608 "election" -"the act of choosing or selecting one or more from a greater number of persons,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . " page 1479 "retire" -". . . . . . . . . . . . . To withdraw from active service. . . . . . . . . . . to separate, withdraw, or remove. . . . . . . . . . . . . . " ( 12 ) IN order to arrive at the intention of the Legislature, Section 51 of the Act has to be read as a whole. ( 13 ) EXPRESSIONS re-appointment and re-election have been used in the Section and the same are-interchangeable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . " ( 12 ) IN order to arrive at the intention of the Legislature, Section 51 of the Act has to be read as a whole. ( 13 ) EXPRESSIONS re-appointment and re-election have been used in the Section and the same are-interchangeable. ( 14 ) SUB-SECTION (6) of Section 51, while dealing with ouster of half of the members in the initial year on the basis of lot, uses the word selected. However while it deals with in-coming members the word used is re-appoint/re-appointment. A retiring member, however, is eligible to get re-elected as member of Executive Committee under Section 51 (9 ). ( 15 ) SECTION 51 (3) reads - "vice-Chairman shall cease to hold office as soon as he ceases to be a member of the Executive Committee". ( 16 ) AGAIN proviso to Section 51 (6) of the Act has been worded- "provided that, in case of a member who has been re-appointed, the term of his office for the purpose of this sub-section shall be computed from the date of his re-appointment. " ( 17 ) JOINT reading of the sub-clauses of Section 51 of the Act shows that a member, who has been longest in office as Member of the Executive Committee, must retire per force mandatory provision of Section 51 (6) and therefore for all intent and purposes he ceases to hold the office of member of the Executive Committee. The aforesaid inference is further fortified from the reading of Proviso appended with Section 51 (6) which lays down that in case of a member, who has been re-appointed; the term of his office-asexecutive Member- shall be computed from the date of his re-appointment. ( 18 ) IF the interpretation advanced on behalf of the Petitioner is to be accepted we find no rationale or justification in adopting such an interpretation-which permits an old member cum Vice-chairman, on re-election as a Member-to continue to hold the office of Vice-chairman, other members-some of whom are elected as member of the Executive Committee for the first time-being excluded from getting an opportunity to participate in the process of electing Vice-chairman : on new composition of the Executive Committee. ( 19 ) TO us, it appears unjust and inequitable to deprive freshly elected members in the Executive Committee not being given chance to participate with others and elect a Vice-chairman from amongst themselves and thus deprive them of their legitimate expectation to elect vice-chairman of their choice, by majority in the newly re-constituted. Executive Committee. ( 20 ) AGAIN, it is interesting to note that-while Section 8 of the Act provides that term of Corporation shall be FIVE YEARS, no such period is prescribed by the Legislature in Section 51 of the Act whose title, reads : "constitution and term of Executive Committee". This is apparently so, in view of sub-section (2) and (3) of Section 51 of the Act - which are, for convenience again-extracted below :- (2) The Executive Committee shall at its first meeting and, as often thereafter as may be necessary on account of a vacancy in the office of Vice-Chairman, elect one of its members to be its Vice-Chairman. (3) A Vice-Chairman shall cease to hold office as soon as he ceases to be a member of the Executive Committee. ( 21 ) IT is, therefore, clear that a retiring member, who is eligible for re-election under Section 51 (9), seeks re-appointment as member of the Executive Committee for fresh term, and therefore, we have no doubt, he also ceases as Vice-Chairman, which office/position he held in lieu of his terminated term. Continuance in office as member for prescribed term and election to the office of vice-chairman by virtue of it, in our view, are clearly co-terminus. Privilege of being Vice-chairman, on the basis of expired term of member cannot be carried forward to be attached to the fresh term of member of Executive Committee. ( 22 ) SECTION 51 of the Act, nor any other provision of the Act, provide that when a member of the Executive Committee shall retire, he will continue to and enjoy office of vice-chairman, which he clearly held on the basis of his elected prescribed term as member. Normally one automatically sheds other offices as soon as he surrenders his parent office. We find no provision in the Act, which may keep intact and preserve the status as vice-chairman in case of a retiring member. Normally one automatically sheds other offices as soon as he surrenders his parent office. We find no provision in the Act, which may keep intact and preserve the status as vice-chairman in case of a retiring member. ( 23 ) WE fail to notice, and the learned counsels at the Bar also failed to point out, that term of a Vice-chairman of an Executive Committee, under the Act is for an assured tenure/term. ( 24 ) LEARNED counsel for the Petitioner referred to Section 51 (5) of the Act wherein expression used is "at noon on the first day of the month" and attempted to suggest that when member retires at noon on the first day of the month a member already re-elected gets re-appointed to fill the vacancy automatically and hence there is no break in the term of a member who is re-elected. At a flash, argument may be attractive but on a deeper consideration with close look-one can notice that there has to be a break in term since the Legislature did not permit the two to be clubbed or computed together. The breaking juncture may be thin and microscopic but none the less there is a breaking point and hence no denial that there remains two distinct terms of a re-elected/re-appointed member of the Executive Committee. ( 25 ) THERE is another reason, for coming to the above conclusion. And that is, when the composition of the Executive Committee, by induction of new members, changes then the members of freshly constituted Executive Committee must have a chance to elect their own Vice-Chairman by majority which will honour and vindicate will of the majority which shall be in consonance with a healthy democratic trend. ( 26 ) BESIDES, the above, we find that petitioner is not excluded from availing himself of the opportunity to seek election of Vice-Chairman and in that situation it is open for a person, like the petitioner, to prove his popularity by seeking re-election as Vice-chairman. ( 27 ) ARGUMENT, on behalf of the petitioner, that when petitioner is re-elected then Section 59 of the Act should not be interpreted, in a manner which puts the petitioner in disadvantage. Argument is fallacious-in as much as Section must be interpreted in a manner that is not disadvantageous to all concerned and not only from point of view of the petitioner alone. Argument is fallacious-in as much as Section must be interpreted in a manner that is not disadvantageous to all concerned and not only from point of view of the petitioner alone. Secondly, Petitioner is precluded from seeking re-election as Vice-Chairman - as he is re-elected as member. Similarly he can prove his majority by seeking re-election as Vice-chairman. ( 28 ) IN the last we may refer to the case of Harbhajan Singh (Supra) referred on behalf of petitioner. ( 29 ) IN this case, Apex Court observed that "particular provision may be read positively or negatory and cautioned that ordinarily credible and natural, plain and simple meaning should be assigned to the Legislature". Apex Court in Para 7 of the judgment, observed that Legislature does not ordinarily waste its words and ordinarily grammatical and full meaning is to be assigned to the expressions used while interpreting a provision. According to their Lordships the Legislature chooses appropriate words to express what it intends, and therefore must be attributed with such intention as is conveyed by the words employed so long as this does not result in absurdity or anomaly or unless it is necessary to logical meaning, it is necessary to depart from the aforesaid rule. ( 30 ) IN the above case, provision under consideration of the Apex Court, used expression retiring. In the instant case the expression used is retired. We also find no ambiguity if the expression used in Section 51 are interpreted in the manner we have done. The aforesaid judgment, in fact, does not help the petitioner. ( 31 ) ON the aspect of interpretation of statutory provision-reference is made to Para 14 of the Apex Court judgment-in the case of M/s. Unique Butyle Tube Industries Private Limited v. U. P. Financial Corporation, 2003 (1) Supreme 333 : AIR 2003 SC 2103 which reads at page 2108 of AIR :-"two principles of construction-one relating to casus omissus and the other in regard to reading the statute as a whole-appear to be well settled. Under the first principle a casus omissus cannot be supplied by the Court except in the case of clear necessity and when reason for it is found in the four corners of the statute itself but at the same time a casus omissus should not be readily inferred and for that purpose all the part of a statute or section must be construed together and every clause of a section should be construed with reference to the context and other clauses thereof so that the construction to be put on a particular provision makes a consistent enactment of the whole statute. This would be more so if literal construction of a particular clause leads to manifestly absurd or anomalous results which could not have been intended by the Legislature, "an intention to produce an unreasonable result", said Danckwerts, L. J. , in Artemiou v. Procopion, 1966 1 QB 878, is not imputed to a statute if there is some other construction available, "defeat the obvious intention and produce a rationale construction (Per Lord Reid in Luke v. IRC 1966 AC 557 where at p. 577 he also observed "this is not a new problem, though our standard of drafting is such that it rarely emerges.) Therefore, the High Courts conclusions holding proceedings under the U. P. Act to be in order are indefensible. " ( 32 ) IN view of the above we find no substance in the petition. Petition is devoid of merit, it is, accordingly, dismissed. Respondents are at liberty to declare the result. ( 33 ) NO order as to cost. Petition dismissed.