TMI Blog1971 (12) TMI 122X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a Panchayat. Surat district consists of several Talukas; one of such Talukas is called Chorashi Taluka for which a Taluka Panchayat was constituted under the provisions of the Panchayats Act. Two areas known as Rander and Adajan were subject to the authority of the Surat District Panchayat and the Chorashi Taluka Panchayat. Rander had a Nagar Panchayat and Adajan had a Gram Panchayat. On January 16, 1970 a notification was issued by the State Government under Section 3(3) of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, 1949, to be referred to as the 'Corporations Act' by which the local areas of Rander and Adajan were included within the limits of the Surat Municipal Corporation. This was followed by a notification dated January 21, 1970 under Section 9(2) of the Panchayats Act declaring that the local area of Rander shall cease to be a Nagar and that of Adajan shall cease to be a Gram with effect from February 1, 1970. The net result was that Rander and Adajan stood excluded from he limits of the Chorashi Taluka Panchayat and the Surat District Panchayat. A notification was issued on June 13, 1962 by the Development Commissioner in exercise of the powers conferred on ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... anchayats Act. This Act. according to the preamble, was exacted to consolidate and am the law relating to village Panchayat and district local boards the State of Gujarat etc. Section 1 provides : Section 1(1) This Act may be called the Gujarat Panchayats Act, 1961. (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Gujarat. (3) This section shall come into force at once; and all or any of the remaining provisions of this Act shall come into force (in respect of such class of Panchayats, in such district and on such dates as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint; and different dates may be appointed in respect of different districts and different provisions. By various notifications issued under Sub-section (3) of Section 1 the provisions of the Panchayats Act were brought into force. Section 310A did not exist in the Panchayats Act as enacted. It subsequently introduced by Gujarat Act 26 of 1962 which can into force on August 18, 1962. By a notification dated February 7, 1963 under Section 1(3), Section 310A was brought into force in all districts of the State of Gujarat except the district of Dangs. Section (1) of Section 310A provides th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... all cease to apply except as provided in the Act to any area included in the city. According to Section 493 the provisions of Appendix IV shall apply to the Constitution of the Corporation and other matters specified therein. Para I of Part I of that Appendix is in the following terms : References in any enactment other than the Bombay District Municipal Act, 1901, the Bombay Municipal Boroughs Act, 1925, and the Bombay Local Fund Audit Act, 1930 in force on the date immediately preceding the appointed day in a City or in any rule, order, or notification made or issued thereunder' and in force on such date in the said City to municipal districts municipal boroughs, municipalities or borough municipalities constituted under the Bombay District Municipal Act 1901 or the Bombay Municipal Boroughs Act, 1925, shall, unless a different intention appears, be construed as references to the City or to the Corporation of the said City, as the case may be, and such enactment, rule, order or notification shall apply to the said City or Corporation. The expression appointed day is defined by Section 2(2). It means with reference to any local area the day on which such area is consti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f the Corporations Act. 7. The approach of the High Court appears to have been that the word 'district' in Section 1(3) must mean a revenue district and not a district as defined in Section 2(6) of the Panchayats Act. The opening words of the definition section are unless the context otherwise requires . Section 1(2) of the same Act declares that it extends to the whole of the State of Gujarat. Sub-section (3) provides that Section 1 shall come into force at once. It further provides that all or any of the remaining provisions of the Panchayats Act shall come into force in respect of such class of panchayats in such districts and on such dates as the State Government may by notification appoint. The State Government can appoint different dates in respect of different districts and different provisions From this the High Court concluded that the word district in Section 1(3) must mean a revenue district. The main reason which prevailed with the High Court was that the word district in that provision could not be construed to refer to a district which was yet to be formed under Section 2(6) of the Panchayats Act particularly when that provision could come into force o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... made on behalf of the State to demolish all the steps in the above process of reasoning and in particular the conclusion of the High Court that Section 310A(10) of the Panchayats Act was applicable to a revenue district which included the borough of Surat before it became a city. It was suggested on behalf of the State that the provisions of the Panchayats Act with the exception of Section 1(2) were to be applied in respect of such class of panchayats in such districts and on such dates as the State Government may by notification appoint. The provisions of the Panchayats Act could thus be made applicable only in respect of panchayats. What Section 1(3) however provides is that the provisions of the Act can be brought into force in such districts as the State Government may by notification in the Official Gazette appoint. Indeed the notification dated February 7, 1963 provided that the provisions of Section 310A shall come into force in all the districts of the State of Gujarat except the district of Dangs. 9. The principal argument that has been addressed to us is that the provisions contained in Appendix IV of the Corporations Act referred to above clearly employ the language ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , it must continue to apply not-withstanding that the local area is converted from a municipal borough into a City. Here in the present case if the local area of Surat had continued to be a municipal borough which it was when Sub-section (10) of Section 310A came into force and the alteration of the limits of Chorashi Taluka and Surat District had taken place as a result of the inclusion of Rander and Adajan in the limits of the Municipal Borough of Surat, Subsection (10) of Section 310A would have applied, then is there any reason from the point of view of Section 310A why the Legislature should have intended that a different consequence shall ensue if the same alteration takes place at a time when the Surat Municipal Borough is converted into the City of Surat. There is no conceivable reason why the consequences which would have followed from the alteration of the limits of the local area of Surat when it was a Municipal Borough should not follow when the same alteration takes place in the limits of the same local area of Surat after it is constituted into a City. 10. After fully considering the contentions raised on behalf of the State we are not satisfied that there is any s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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