TMI Blog1952 (1) TMI 28X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... onstitution of India and Section 561A, Criminal P. C. praying that the entire proceedings before the Panchayat including the order of conviction passed by the Panchayati Adalat be quashed as illegal and void in law. 2. Before the hearing of the application a preliminary objection to the maintainability of this application was taken by the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the complainant opposite party. The preliminary objection was based on Section 85, U. P. Panchayat Raj Act (XXVI of 1947). Under Sub-section (1) of Section 85 of the said Act, ''if there has been a miscarriage of justice or if there is an apprehension of miscarriage of justice in any case, suit or proceedings, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate in respect of any case and the Munsif in respect of any suit and the Sub-Divisional Officer in respect of any proceeding under the Uttar Pradesh Land Revenue Act, 1901, may on the application of any party or on his own motion, at any time in a pending case, suit or proceeding as the case may be and within sixty days from the date of a decree or order, call for the record of the case, suit or proceeding as the case may be, from the Panchayati Adalat and may ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d under this Act at the time of the abolition of such last mentioned Courts. It is, therefore, clear that although the power of superintendence over all Courts was given to the High Court under Section 15, High Courts Act, Section 9 of the said Act expressly provided that power in criminal cases was to be exercised in accordance with the provision for the exercise of the same contained in the Letters Patent. It was, therefore, limited and circumscribed by any provision contained in regard thereto in the Letters Patent of the said High Court. 5. A reference to Clause 29, Letters Patent, of the Allahabad High Court shows that the proceedings in all criminal cases before the High Court in the exercise of its ordinary original criminal jurisdiction were regulated by the procedure and practice which was in use in the High Court of Judicature for Port William in Bengal, immediately before the date of the publication of the Letters Patent, subject to any law which has been or may be made in relation thereto by competent legislative authority for India ; and the proceedings in all other criminal cases were regulated by the Code of Criminal Procedure, prescribed by an Ac ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 24, however, lays down that nothing in the said section would be construed as giving to a High Court any jurisdiction to question any judgment of any inferior Court which is not otherwise subject to appeal or revision. The addition of Sub-clause (2) to Section 224 clearly indicates that the purpose of the section was to bar the jurisdiction of High Court to interfere with the judicial orders of lower Courts under the general power of superintendence given to the High Court by Sub-section (1) and to confine the said power to administrative matters. This seems to be the state of the law from the year 1935 up to the year 1950 when the present Constitution of India was passed. 8. The fourth and the last step in the development of law in this regard was taken by the Constitution of India which came into force on 26-1-1950. Article 227 which is the relevant provision for the present purposes, may be cited below: 227. (1) Every High Court shall have superintendence over all Courts and tribunals throughout the territories in relation to which it exercises jurisdiction. (2) Without prejudice to the generality o# the foregoing provision, the High Court may ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... that given to it even under the Government of India Act, 1915, or the High Courts Act, 1861. It is also relevant in this connection to note that the Constitution of India has given this supervisory power to the High Court not only over all Courts but also over all tribunals throughout the territories in relation to which it exercises its jurisdiction. The word 'tribunals' did not find a place either in the Government of India Act of 1935 or in the Government of India Act 1915 or in the High Courts Act, 1861. The purpose of the addition of the word tribunals to Article 227, to my mind was to emphasise the fact that not only bodies which are Courts within the strict definition of that term would be subject to the supervisory jurisdiction of the High Court but all bodies that perform the functions of Courts and are akin to them are drawn within the purview of its supervision and cannot claim exemption from it merely by virtue of the fact that they do not come within the strict category of civil, revenue, or criminal Courts as known under the ordinary law of the land. Certain other minor changes in this Article are also noteworthy. A contrast of the marginal note app ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tta Ltd. 54 C.W.N 832 the marginal notes of an Indian Act were compared with the corresponding marginal notes of the English Act to elucidate the meaning of the section. The contrary view expressed in the Commr. of Income Tax Excess Profit Tax v. Parasram Jethanand [1950]18ITR302(Mad) and Sutlej Cotton Mills Ltd v Commr, of Income Tax, West Bengal [1950]18ITR112(Cal) should not therefore, be accepted without qualification. The opinion which I, however, have formed is independently of the marginal notes and is based on the Article itself viewed in the light of its historical background. 10. To emphasise and to clarify the plenary nature of power of superintendence vested in the High Court the provision of law relating to it has been split up into four clauses. The first clause enunciates the general power of supervision given to High Court over all Courts and tribunals throughout the territories in relation to which it exercises jurisdiction. It is couched in a language which would vest the High Court with a power that is not fettered with any restriction and must embrace all aspects of the functions exercised by every Court and tribunal. On a proper interpretation of this ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on also emphasises the clear field of superintendence which is left within the jurisdiction of the High Court after exempting the prohibited area covered by the Military Courts or tribunals mentioned therein. 14. A reading of the entire Article 227 of the Constitution of India in the light of the antecedent law on the subject leads one to the irresistible conclusion that the purpose of the constitution makers was to make the High Court responsible for the entire administration of justice and to vest in the High Court an unlimited reserve of judicial power which could be brought into play at any time that the High Court considered it necessary to draw upon the same. Springing as it does from the Constitution, which is the parent of all Acts and Statutes in India, the fact that the judgment or order of a Court or tribunal has been made final by an Act or the fact chat the body performing judicial functions is special tribunal constituted under a Statute cannot be set up as a bar to the exercise of this power by the High Court. The prohibited area is to be found within the four corners of the constitution itself and nowhere else. 15. The fact that these unlimited po ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ches who were appointed for the disposal of the case are : ''1. Shri Nandkumar, 2. Shri Jagdish Prasad 3. Shri Puttu Lal, Ganeshpur, 4. Mullu Nawagaon, and 5. Haridwari Lal. The statement of the complainant was taken on 29th October 1950, and the statement of the accused was also taken on the same date. There is nothing to show that the charge was explained to the accused. On 4th November 1950, an application was addressed to Shri Dutt, Sarpanch, Panchayati Adalat, Khajuria Awasi, praying that he should personally make enquiries into the case or appoint a commission for the purpose. It may be noted that this Shri Dutt Sarpanch was not a member of the bench to whom the case was sent for disposal and I have not been referred to any provision in the Panchayat Raj Act under which a Sarpanch has jurisdiction to interfere in a case pending before the Panches, who have been duly appointed to constitute a Bench for the purpose of disposal of the case. In spite of it the Sarpanch Shri Dutt proceeded to appoint, a commission consisting of Pandit Shri Dutt Vaidya and Pandit Jagdish Prasad. The order of the Sarpanch runs as follows : Enquiries be made in t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nch is a member of it, choose one of their members to be the chairman of that bench who shall conduct the proceedings. This as well as the succeeding sections clearly indicate that once a bench of the Panchayati Adalat has been constituted, that bench alone has power to deal with the case and any unauthorised interference by the Sarpanch in the proceedings of the Adalat is not permissible unless the Sarpanch himself is a member of the bench. In the present case the Sarpanch Shri Dutt was not a member of the Bench. In spite of it he entertained the application for the appointment of commission. He actually appointed a commission. He fixed a date in the case and a perusal of the proceedings indicates that after that date he practically took charge of the disposal of the entire case. The final order indicates that he also conducted investigation along with the commission and that the report was framed under his guidance. Even the judgment was delivered under his signature. Under Rule 100 framed under the Panchayat Raj Act the Adalat shall record a brief judgment or order and the signatures of the panches shall be affixed to the record. In the present case the signatures of two of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... could, therefore, be rightly argued that the order is not an order of the bench at all but it is, as it purports to be the order of the commission adopted by the bench without applying its own mind to the facts of the case. This was certainly not the purpose contemplated by the Panchayat Raj Act and is not warranted by any of the said sections of the Act or the rules made thereunder. 22. Lastly it is argued by the learned counsel for the applicants that even if the facts mentioned in the complaint and given in the evidence are accepted in toto, no offence under Section 160, Penal Code has been made out. In this connection the contents of the application may be cited below: Sir, The complainant most respectfully begs to state as under : I was ploughing my field. It was 8 a. m. At that time Sita Ram came to raise khain in his field. He began to raise his khain by cutting my mend. I remonstrated with him and asked him not to do so, otherwise the khain would be pulled down. Then Sita Bam ran towards his house raising cries and saying, 'Village people, come up, Ram Sahai is killing me.' Instantly the rest of the accused came up to the scene ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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