JUDGMENT By the Court.—The petitioner was elected as Senior Up-Pramukh on 27.2.2006. It appears that a no-confidence motion against the Pramukh was passed on 30.4.2008. The District Magistrate passed an order dated 27.5.2008 appointing a three-members committee to discharge the functions of the Pramukh until fresh elections are held. This order dated 27.5.2008 has been challenged by the petitioner. 2. We have heard Sri L.P. Singh, learned Counsel for the petitioner and Sri K.N. Tripathi, Senior Advocate assisted by Sri N.K. Pandey on behalf of respondent No. 4 and learned Standing Counsel. 3. Section 9 of the U.P. Kshettra Panchayat & Zila Panchayat Adhiniyam, 1961 before its amendment by the U.P. Panchayat Laws Amendment Act, 2007 provided that when the office of the Pramukh becomes vacant, his functions are to be discharged by the Senior Up-Pramukh and if there is no Senior Up-Pramukh, by the Junior Up-Pramukh and if there is no Junior Up-Pramukh, then by a committee appointed by the District Magistrate. Section 9 of the Act before its amendment read as follows : “9. Term of Pramukh and Up-Pramukh.—(1) Save as otherwise provided in this Act, the term of office of a Pramukh or Up-Pramukh of a Kshettra Panchayat shall commence upon his election and shall extend up to the term of the Kshettra Panchayat : (2) Whether the office of the Pramukh is vacant— (a) the senior Up-Pramukh shall discharge the functions of the Pramukh till the Pramukh is elected; (b) and if the office of Senior Up-Pramukh is also vacant, the Junior Up-Pramukh shall discharge the functions of the Pramukh till the Pramukh or the Senior Up Pramukh is elected. (c) and if the offices of both, the Senior and Junior Up-Pramukhs also are vacant the District Magistrate may, by order, make such arrangements as he thinks fit for the discharge of the functions of the Pramukh, till the Pramukh, Senior Up-Pramukh or Junior Up-Pramukh is elected." 4. However, substantial amendments in the U.P. Kshettra Panchayat & Zila Panchayat Adhiniyam, 1961 have been made by the U.P. Panchayat Laws (Amendment) Act, 2007 in respect of the post of Up-Pramukh and Senior and Junior Up-Pramukhs. Section 9 of the Principal Act has been amended as follows by Section 11 of the Amending Act : “11. However, substantial amendments in the U.P. Kshettra Panchayat & Zila Panchayat Adhiniyam, 1961 have been made by the U.P. Panchayat Laws (Amendment) Act, 2007 in respect of the post of Up-Pramukh and Senior and Junior Up-Pramukhs. Section 9 of the Principal Act has been amended as follows by Section 11 of the Amending Act : “11. Amendment of Section 9.—In Section 9 of the principal Act, for sub­section (2), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely : (2) Where the office of the Pramukh is vacant, the District Magistrate may, by order, make such arrangement as he thinks fit for the discharge of the functions of the Pramukh, till the Pramukh is elected." 5. If this amended provision is applied the District Magistrate was competent to appoint the three member committee. According to the petitioner the amended Section 9 does not apply and this result has been brought about by Sections 9 and 10 of the Amendment Act. 6. Section 9 of the Amendment Act is as follows : “9. General Amendment of U.P. Act No. 33 of 1961.—In the Uttar Pradesh Kshettra Panchayats and Zila Panchayats Adhiniyam, 1961, hereinafter in this chapter referred to as the principal Act, the words “Up-Pramukh”, “Senior Up-Pramukh”, “Junior Up Pramukh” and “Upadhyaksha” wherever occurring including the marginal headings and Schedules, shall be omitted.” 7. Section 10 of the Amending Act is as follows : "10. Amendment of Section 7.—In Section 7 of the principal Act, after sub-section (2), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely : “(3) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other provisions of this Act, the persons who have been elected to the office of the Up Pramukh before the commencement of the Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Laws (Amendment) Act, 2007 shall continue to hold the office as such till the expiry of their term as if the said Act were not enacted.” 8. The effect of Section 9 of the Amending Act is that the post of Up Pramukh whether Senior Up Pramukh or Junior Up Pramukh has been abolished. The effect of Section 9 of the Amending Act is that the post of Up Pramukh whether Senior Up Pramukh or Junior Up Pramukh has been abolished. But by section 10 of the Amendment Act, Section 7 of the principal Act has been amended and the effect of the new sub-section (3), which has been added in the principal Act is that the persons who have been elected to the office of the Up-Pramukh before the commencement of U.P. Panchayat Laws (Amendment) Act, 2007 shall continue to hold the office as such till the expiry of their term as if the said Act was not enacted. The petitioner was elected as Senior Up Pramukh on 27.2.2006 before the commencement of the Amending Act and the term is coterminus with the term of the Kshettra Samiti, which would expire in 2011. By virtue of the amended sub-section (7) the petitioner would be entitled to continue as such for his full term as if the amending Act were not enacted. 9. The contention of the petitioner’s Counsel is that in view of the amended sub-section (3) of Section 7 the amended Section 9 will not apply and therefore the committee could not have been appointed. The contention of Sri K.N. Tripathi, learned Counsel for the respondent is that by virtue of Section 9 of the amendment Act, the words Up-Pramukh, Senior Up-Pramukh and Junior Up-Pramukh wherever they occur in the principal Act shall be omitted. The logical effect of the omission of these words in the various sections of the principal Act it is submitted that the various duties which were ascribed to the Up Pramukh, Senior or Junior and the rights conferred upon them under the provisions of the Principal Act have been taken away and the office of Senior Up Pramukh and Junior Up Pramukh created by Section 7 of the Principal Act stands abolished by the omission of the words Up Pramukh, Senior Up Pramukh and Junior Up Pramukh. The effect of the amendment of Section 7 of the Principal Act by Section 10 of the Amendment Act is only limited to making provision for the continuance in office of the Up-Pramukh, but the other privileges, such as discharging the functions of the Pramukh in case of a vacancy in the office of the Pramukh conferred by Section 9 and exercise of duties by the Up Pramukh in case of delegation conferred by Section 82 and discharging his duties in case of temporary absence of the Pramukh conferred by Section 83 are not revived as the words Up Pramukh, Senior Up Pramukh and Junior Up Pramukh stand omitted from these sections and from all other Sections of the Principal Act. To elaborate his argument reliance has been placed by Sri K.N. Tripathi upon the provisions of Article 243-C of the Constitution of India which contemplates a single office of Chairman of the Panchayat and upon Article 243-G as well as upon the objects and reasons of the amendment Act and it is submitted that amendments have been made to bring the Act in conformity with the provisions of the Constitution. The object and reasons are quoted below: “Prefatory Note-Statement of Objects and Reasons.—The United Provinces Panchayat Raj Act, 1947 (U.P. Act No. 26 of 1947) provided for the offices of Pradhan and Up-Pradhan in every Gram Panchayat and the Uttar Pradesh Kshettra Panchayats and Zila Panchayats Adhiniyam, 1961 (U.P. Act No. 33 of 1961) provided for the offices of Pramukh, Up-Pramukh (Senior Up-Pramukh and Junior Up-Pramukh) in every Kshettra Panchayat and Adhyaksha and Upadhyaksha in every Zila Panchayat. It was decided to amend the said Acts to omit the provisions of the offices in respect of which there is no provision in the Constitution namely the offices of Up-Pradhan, Up-Pramukh (Senior Up-Pramukh and Junior Up-Pramukh) and Upadhyaksha. Since the State Legislature was not in session and immediate legislative action was necessary to implement the aforesaid decision, the Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2007 (U.P. Ordinance No. 26 of 2007) was promulgated by the Governor on August 20, 2007. This Bill is introduced to replace the aforesaid Ordinance.” 10. Since the State Legislature was not in session and immediate legislative action was necessary to implement the aforesaid decision, the Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2007 (U.P. Ordinance No. 26 of 2007) was promulgated by the Governor on August 20, 2007. This Bill is introduced to replace the aforesaid Ordinance.” 10. No doubt, the Amending Act does contemplate for a single person as a Chairman but what has to be seen in this case is that when the Amending Act itself provides for the continuance of the Up Pramukh till the expiry of his term does the Amending Act envisage the appointment of a committee appointed by the District Magistrate to perform his functions in the situation where the office of Pramukh is vacant. In a situation where there is no Up Pramukh, Senior or Junior which is the position contemplated by the Amending Act after the expiry of the terms of the present office holders it is easy to appreciate the Scheme of the Amending Act that in the vacancy of the office of the Pramukh a committee appointed by the District Magistrate shall function until a new Pramukh is elected. But it would be quite against the democratic principles to conceive of a committee appointed by the District Magistrate to discharge the duties of the Pramukh even though there continues in office a Senior Up Pramukh or Junior Up Pramukh. 11. Now, the expression “as if the said Act were not enacted” in the context in which it has been used in the Section 10 of the Amending Act if given a narrow interpretation could mean no more than this that the Up Pramukh referred to would continue to hold the post of Up Pramukh for the rest of his term even though the post stands abolished by Section 9 of the Amending Act but would not exercise any of the functions of the Pramukh under Sections 9, 82 or 83 when the office of the Pramukh is vacant or when he is temporarily absent. There would be no delegation of power to the Up Pramukh as the word Up Pramukh has been omitted from the Act. There would be no delegation of power to the Up Pramukh as the word Up Pramukh has been omitted from the Act. If a broad interpretation is given the words referred to could mean that the Amending Act would not at all apply to an Up Pramukh whose term has been continued by the Amending Act and such Up Pramukh would not only continue in office but would enjoy all the privileges attached to the office of the Up Pramukh with all the duties and incidents of the office including the right to function as Pramukh when that office is vacant. In order to appreciate the legal position, it is necessary to refer to the other provisions of the principal Act (unamended) as well as the scheme which is sought to be introduced by the amending Act and for doing so, the effects which would follow if the narrow interpretation of the respondents is accepted may be noticed. 12. If the narrow interpretation is taken the effect of the omission of the words “Senior Up-Pramukh”, “Junior Up-Pramukh” and “Up-Pramukh” from the various sections of the Act would create anomalies which the legislature could not have intended to create. Section 15 of the principal Act (unamended Act) makes provisions for a motion of ‘no-confidence’ against the Pramukh and Up-Pramukh Senior and Junior. If the interpretation of the respondents is accepted, the Up-Pramukh shall continue in office, but no ‘no-confidence motion can be brought against him as the word Up Pramukh stands omitted from that section. Similarly, under Section 16 of the Principal Act, Pramukh and Up-Pramukh, Senior and Junior, can be removed by the State Government in case of misconduct on their part. If the interpretation of the respondents is accepted, no order of removal can be passed against the Up-Pramukh. Under Section 11 of the Principal Act, the Up-Pramukh can submit his resignation but the words “Up-Pramukh”, “Senior Up-Pramukh” and ‘“Junior Up-Pramukh” having been omitted therefrom, it may become questionable whether any resignation can be submitted by the Up-Pramukh. There is another reason why the interpretation suggested by the respondent is difficult to accept. Under Section 11 of the Principal Act, the Up-Pramukh can submit his resignation but the words “Up-Pramukh”, “Senior Up-Pramukh” and ‘“Junior Up-Pramukh” having been omitted therefrom, it may become questionable whether any resignation can be submitted by the Up-Pramukh. There is another reason why the interpretation suggested by the respondent is difficult to accept. Section 9 of the Principal Act also gave power to the District Magistrate to appoint a Committee in case of vacancy in the office of Pramukh but the exercise of that power was dependant upon two contingencies, namely, vacancy in the office of the Senior Up Pramukh as well as vacancy in the office of Junior Up-Pramukh. The legislative intent was quite clear that if an elected Up-Pramukh senior or junior is in office it is he who would discharge the functions of the Pramukh rather than a committee appointed by the District Magistrate. This arrangement advances the democratic principles of self Government. The preference in favour of an elected Up Pramukh is quite clear from the scheme of the unamended Section 9. If the interpretation of the respondents is accepted, the result would be that the Committee appointed by the District Magistrate would function even though there is a functioning Up-Pramukh, Senior or Junior. The rule of interpretation of statutes is that the words of a statute have to be read in their plain meaning, but if two views are possible the view which fulfils the object of the Act should be preferred. In this case we are dealing with a Statute relating to local self Government and the provisions which falls for interpretation relates to an arrangement for discharging the functions of an elected office while it is vacant. In such a case an interpretation which conforms to the democratic principles and which is consistent with the scheme has to prevail over the other view, which does not so conform. There is another reason why the narrow interpretation suggested by the respondents cannot be accepted. When the legislature has continued the term of the existing Up Pramukhs it would be presumed in the absence of clear indication to the contrary that all the incidents of that office have been preserved. It is difficult to conceive of an office in name only bereft of all the privileges, duties and functions. When the legislature has continued the term of the existing Up Pramukhs it would be presumed in the absence of clear indication to the contrary that all the incidents of that office have been preserved. It is difficult to conceive of an office in name only bereft of all the privileges, duties and functions. It appears to us that the situation in which the legislature has intended the District Magistrate to appoint a committee to discharge the functions of the Pramukh when that office is vacant, is when the term of the existing Up Pramukh comes to an end and the provision relating to abolition of his office comes into full effect. 13. We may also refer to Section 10 of the amendment Act. In sub-section (3) of Section 7 which has been introduced by the amendment, the provision for the continuance of office of the Up Pramukh is in the words "shall continue to hold the office as such”. In our opinion the words “as such” have the effect “as such with all the privileges and disabilities incidental to the office of Up-Pramukh as they were before the amendment was made and read with the words “as such” the words “as if the said Act were not enacted” would mean that in a case where the Up-Pramukh is functioning, the other provisions of the amending Act would not come into operation at all. Section 12 of the principal Act (unamended Act) provides that where the office of the Pramukh is vacant, it shall be filled up by election within a period of six months in the same manner as under Section 6 of the Act. Rules have been framed by the State Government in this regard and under the Rules, the elections of the Pramukh are to be held by the Election Commission. It, thus, appears that some time may elapse before the post of Pramukh is filled up on a regular basis in the manner provided under Section 6 read with the Rules. The committee appointed by the District Magistrate could therefore continue to function for a substantial period of time. The legislature could not have intended to make such an arrangement when there is an Up Pramukh who under the scheme of Section 9 (unamended) was given preference over the committee. The committee appointed by the District Magistrate could therefore continue to function for a substantial period of time. The legislature could not have intended to make such an arrangement when there is an Up Pramukh who under the scheme of Section 9 (unamended) was given preference over the committee. In our opinion, therefore, even if two views upon the interpretation of the amending Act exist, the interpretation, which favours the democratic principles and which is in line with the scheme of the provisions of the Act should be given preference. For these reasons, we are of the view that by giving effect to the expressions “as such” and “as if the said Act were not enacted”, the result is that in case the Up-Pramukh continues in office by virtue of provisions of Section 10 of the Amending Act he would also be entitled to all the privileges and subject to all the disabilities which the Act contemplates and would function as the Pramukh when that office is vacant. In this case, there is no dispute about the fact that the petitioner was elected as Up-Pramukh before the commencement of the amendment Act and his term of office is continuing and, therefore, it is the petitioner, who is entitled to discharge the duties of the Pramukh so long as a regular Pramukh is not elected. 14. In the result, we allow the writ petition and quash the order of the District Magistrate dated 27.5.2008, Annexure-1 to the writ petition 15. The State Government and the authorties shall try to get the election on the post of Pramukh held without any delay. ————