JUDGMENT

E. S. VENKATARAMIAH, J.:— In these writ petitions, the petitioners who were holders of posts of part-time village officers in the State of Tamil Nadu or associations of such persons have questioned the constitutional validity of the Tamil Nadu Abolition of Posts of Part-time Village Officers Ordinance, 1980 (Tamil Nadu Ordinance No. 10 of 1980) (hereinafter referred to as the Ordinance) and the Tamil Nadu Abolition of Posts of Part-time Village Officers Act, 1981 (Tamil Nadu Act No. 3 of 1981) (hereinafter referred to as "the Act) which replaced the Ordinance. The total number of posts abolished by the Act is 23,010.

2. In Tamil Nadu, as in other parts of India, the village has been the basic unit of revenue administration from the earliest times of which we have any record. The administration was being carried on at the lowest level by a chain of officers in regular gradation one above the other at the commencement of the Christian era. The same system has been in vogue up-till now. It was generally known as the barabaluti system ordinarily consisting of twelve functionaries. In Tamil Nadu, these functionaries were known as (1) headman, (2) karnam or accountant, (3) Shrof