ORDER Petitioners are the President and Vice President of Kottur Shivapur Gram Panchayat, Savadatti taluk, Belgaum District. Being aggrieved by order dated 28.05.2014 (Annexure “A”) passed by the second respondent Deputy Commissioner, Belgaum District, Belgaum, they have assailed the same in these writ petitions. 2. The contention of the petitioners is that under the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act, 1993(hereinafter referred to as the ‘Act’ for the sake of convenience), there is no provision made for the appointment of an Administrator except in the circumstances stated under Section 8 thereof. That in the instant case, those circumstances did not exist and therefore, the second respondent could not have appointed the 3rd respondent as an Administrator of the respondent Gram Panchayat invoking Section 8 of the Act. 3. I have heard learned counsel for petitioners and learned counsel for respondents and perused the material on record. 4. Petitioner’s counsel drew my attention to Section 239 of the Act which deals with the power of appointment of an Administrator in certain cases insofar as Zilla Panchayat and Taluk Panchayat are concerned one of the circumstances is that if all the members or more than two third members of Zilla Panchayat or Taluk Panchayat resign, then the State Government by notification in the Official Gazette can appoint an Administrator for such a period as may be specified in the notification and may by a further notification curtail or extend the period of such appointment, but the total period of such appointment cannot extend six months. He contended that such a provision being absent in the case of a Gram Panchayat, second respondent could not have invoked Section 8 of the Act to appoint an Administrator for the respondent Gram Panchayat although similar circumstances as mentioned in Section 239 exist in the instant case. 5. Per contra, learned counsel for the respondents in unison contended that Section 8 of the Act, in fact, specifically states two circumstances under which an Administrator may be appointed. Section 8(1)(a)(iii) is a general clause which states that “for any other reason whatsoever”, an administrator can be appointed. Therefore, that clause has been invoked by the second respondent Deputy Commissioner to appoint the Administrator for the respondent Gram Panchayat, as out of total nine members, six members have resigned and that there is no quorum to conduct the proceedings of the respondent Gram Panchayat. Therefore, that clause has been invoked by the second respondent Deputy Commissioner to appoint the Administrator for the respondent Gram Panchayat, as out of total nine members, six members have resigned and that there is no quorum to conduct the proceedings of the respondent Gram Panchayat. Therefore, there is no merit in this writ petition. 6. In order to consider the rival contentions, it is necessary to refer to the relevant Sections of the Act. Section 239 and Section 8 of the Act read as under: “239.Power to appoint administrator in certain cases. (1) whenever, (a) any general election to a Zilla Panchayat or Taluk Panchayat under this Act or any proceedings consequent thereon has been stayed by an order of a competent court or authority; or (b) all the members or more than two thirds of the members of a Zilla Panchayat or Taluk Panchayat have resigned, the Government shall by notification in the Official Gazette appoint an Administrator for such period as may be specified in the notification and may, by like notification, curtail or extend the period of such appointment, so however the total period of such appointment shall not exceed six months. (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, on the appointment of an administrator under subsection (1) during the period of such appointment , the Zilla Panchayat or Taluk Panchayat and the committees thereof and the Adhyaksha or Upadhyaksha of such panchayat, charged with carrying out the provisions of this Act, or any other law, shall cease to exercise any powers and perform and discharge any duties or functions conferred or imposed on them by or under this Act or any other law and all such powers shall be exercised and all such duties and functions shall be performed and discharged by the administrator.” “8. Appointment of an administrative committee or administrator on failure to elect members of Grama Panchayats. Appointment of an administrative committee or administrator on failure to elect members of Grama Panchayats. (1) (a) If the Deputy Commissioner is satisfied that a Grama Panchayat for a village or group of villages immediately after the establishment of such Grama Panchayat cannot be constituted by reason of, (i) any difficulty in holding an election of the members of the Grama Panchayat; or (ii) failure to elect such members at two successive elections held under subsection (6) of Section 5; or (iii) any other sufficient reason whatsoever; or” Section 239 deals with the power to appoint an administrator in certain cases. The circumstances are, (1) when a general election to a Zilla Panchayat or Taluk Panchayat or any proceeding consequent thereto has been stayed by an order of a competent court or authority or; (2) when all the members of more than 2/3rd of the members of a Zilla Panchayat or Taluk Panchayat have resigned. In such situations, the Government by notification in the official gazette can appoint an Administrator for such period as specified in the notification, so that the total period of appointment does not exceed six months. subsection (2) of Section 239 states that, when an Administrator is appointed, then Zilla Panchayat or Taluk Panchayat and the Committees as well as the Adhyaksha or Upadhyaksha shall cease to exercise any power and perform and discharge any duty or function conferred or imposed on them by or under the Act or any other law and such power shall be exercised or discharged by the Administrator. Section 8 of the Act is with regard to appointment of an administrative committee or administrator on failure to elect members of Grama Panchayats. The circumstances stated therein are; (1) when there is difficulty in holding an election of the members of the Grama Panchayat; or (2) when there is a failure to elect such members at two successive elections held under subsection (6) of Section 5 of the Act; or (3) when there is any other sufficient reason whatsoever. The point to be considered is, if there is a situation where all the members or more than 2/3rd of the members of Grama Panchayat resign, then as to whether it is a sufficient reason to appoint an administrative committee or an Administrator to a Gram Panchayat. 7. The point to be considered is, if there is a situation where all the members or more than 2/3rd of the members of Grama Panchayat resign, then as to whether it is a sufficient reason to appoint an administrative committee or an Administrator to a Gram Panchayat. 7. No doubt, power to appoint an Administrator for a Gram Panchayat, in case two thirds of the members resign, is not specifically enunciated in Section 8 of the Act which deals with appointment of an Administrative Committee or an Administrator. That provision, no doubt, delineates on two specific circumstances under which an Administrative Committee or an Administrator could be appointed (i) when there is any difficulty in holding election of the members of the Gram Panchayat or (ii) when there is failure to elect such members at two successive elections held under subsection(6) of Section 5 thereof. But clause(iii) states that for any other sufficient reason whatsoever, an Administrator could be appointed. While interpreting that clause, one need not be constricted by the use of words “on failure to elect members of the Grama Panchayat” in the heading of the Section or the words “immediately after the establishment of such Grama Panchayat” in the preamble to subsection (1), as the words “any other sufficient reasons whatsoever” are words of wide import and therefore, have to be given an expansive interpretation rather than a narrow, pedantic one. Also the use of the words “any”, “other”, and “whatsoever” are words which, when used independently of each other are of significance and when used collectively in a single clause implies that the legislature intended that any other reason or circumstance is de hors Clauses(i) and (ii) and any reason, if was a sufficient reason could be the basis for appointment of an administrator. 8. That clause is a clause which is in the nature of an omnibus clause which has not specifically enunciated the circumstances which would require appointment of an Administrator or a Committee. But a circumstance as in the instant case could be considered under that clause as it can be construed to be a sufficient reason for appointment of an Administrator or an Administrative committee as in the instant case. But a circumstance as in the instant case could be considered under that clause as it can be construed to be a sufficient reason for appointment of an Administrator or an Administrative committee as in the instant case. In fact, in Section 239(1)(b) itself, the Act recognizes that where two third of the members of the Zilla Panchayat or Taluk Panchayat have resigned, that is a circumstance to appoint an administrator for Zilla Panchayat or Taluk Panchayat. If that is a reason recognized under the Act itself to appoint an administrator of administrative committee for a Zilla Panchayat or Taluk Panchayat then that circumstance could be construed as a “sufficient reason” under Section 8(1) (a)(iii) of the Act. In that view of the matter, appointment of the Administrator by the impugned order dated 28/05/2014 (Annexure “A”) in the instant case cannot be held to be illegal or contrary to the provisions of the Act. Thus, there is no merit in the petition. Writ Petitions are dismissed. 9. However, there is a time limit of six months for the Administrator to function as the Administrator of the Gram Panchayat. In the instant case, Administrator was appointed on 25/05/2014 and his appointment would come to an end soon. In the circumstance, 5th respondent State Election Commission is directed to conduct elections to the vacant posts of Gram Panchayat immediately so as to ensure that the office of the Administrator is not continued thereafter and that the respondent Gram Panchayat is constituted in a democratic manner and in accordance with law.