The acceptance of the resignations of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of a Municipal Council is invalid if proper notice is not given to all the Councillors and if the meeting in which the resignations are accepted is not a "next meeting" within the meaning of Section 55 of the Andhra Pradesh Municipalities Act, 1965.

JAGANNADHA RAO, J.

( 1 ) THIS writ appeal is preferred against the judgment rendered in writ petition No. 8073 of 1982 by which the writ petition was allowed. The appellants before us are 17 Municipal councilors of Tenali 17 Municipal councilors of Tenali municipality they are the respondent 3 to 19 in the writ petition. The writ petitioners are respondents 1 to 3 before us. The district collector, Guntur who is the first respondent in the writ petition is the 4th respondent before us. The commissioner Tenali Municipality. Tenali who is the 2nd respondent in the writ petition is impleaded as the 5th respondent in this appeal.

( 2 ) THE writ petition was filed for the issue of a writ of certiorari quashing the notice given by the District Collector in his proceedings Rc. No. 13384/ 82 D-7 dated 2-11-1982.

( 3 ) THE writ petition has been filed by three of the Municipal councillors of Tenali Municipality. The total number of councillors in the municipal council is 36. One sri A. Satyanarayana was unanimously elected as the chairman of the municipality while Sri N. Ramakrishan was elected as the vice chairman. While so the chairman convended a meeting of the municipal council to be held on 30-10-1982 at 3. 00 P. M. on the morning on 30-10-1982 24 councillors issued a written notice to the collector expressing their intention to move no confidence motion against the chairman sri. A. Satyanarayana as per section 46 of the Andhra pradesh Municipalities Act (hereinafter called the Act ). On 30-10-1982 the meeting of the council was held. At that meeting the chairman sri A. Satyanarayana and the vice chairman sri N. Ramakrishan gave their resignation letters to the commissioner incharge. According to the appellants 29 councillors attended that meeting. It is also the case of the appellants that apart from giving the resignation letters the chairman and the vice-chairman announced in the meeting that they have resigned their respective offices of chairman and vice-chairman and left the meeting. Then the commissioner placed both the resignation letters before the Municipal council. The councillors elected sri Jetti Ankineedu the 8th appellant as temporary chairman under section 51 of the Act and under his president ship the resignations of the chairman and the vice-chairman and a resolution to that effect was also recorded in the minutes of the municipal council. As the said resolution was subscribed by 2/3rd majority of the municipal councillors the proceedings relating to the resignations were communicated to the collector for the purpose of electing a new chairman, it is also the appellants case that the chairman and vice-chairman also sent telegrams to the collector intimating about their resignation on 30-10-1982. then the collector issued notices dated 2-11-1982 stating that on account of the resignation of the chairman of the Municipal council on 30-10-1982 there was a vacancy in the office of the chairman and therefore for the purpose of filling up the said vacancy he was convening a meeting in accordance with section 25 of the Act 12-11-1982 at 3. 00 p. m at the council hall for the meeting of the municipal councillors. On 9-11-1982 the present writ petition was filed by respondents 1 to 3 in this appeal who are three of the municipal councillors alleging that the resolution accepting the resignations was wholly void and illegal inasmuch as under section 55 of the Act any resignation of either chairman and vice-chairman should be placed in the "next meeting of the council and that was not done. They also alleged that as per the rules for convening of meetings three days prior notice should be given mentioning the time of the proposed meeting and mentioning the business to be transacted and that in the present case no such meeting was convened to consider the resignation of th chairman and vice-chairman and as such) the resolution dated 30-10-1982 accepting the resignations was illegal. They also stated that the meeting presided

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