Casual elections cannot be held to fill vacancies that occurred before the commencement of an Act that extends the term of office of councillors.

VISWANATHA SASTRI, J.

( 1 ) THIS is a petition by three rate-payers and electors of the Vijayawada Municipalty praying for the issue of a writ of mandamus directing the respondents, the Commissioner of Vijayawada Municipality and the Regional inspector of Municipal Councils and Local Boards, not to hold the municipal elections for Wards Nos. 7, 12, 15 and 30 of the Municipality on 26th March, 1956, as notified by them. It is common ground that the Councillors elected at the last ordinary elections for these Wards vacated their seats, for one reason or another, before their term of three years was over and that casual vacancies as defined in section 3 (7) of the Madras District Municipalities Act (hereinafter referred to as "the Act") occurred in the office of councillors for these wards before October, 1955. It is to fill up these casual vacancies that casual elections have been fixed to be held on 26th March, 1956. There were earlier attempts by some of the ratepayers by means of suits in the District Munsif s Court, Vijayawada, to restrain the respondents from holding elections for filling up these casual vacancies but they proved unsuccessful.

( 2 ) UNDER section 8 (1) of the Act before it was amended by Act XI of 1955 the term of office of Municipal councillors elected at the ordinary elections was 3 years from the first of November following the elections. Under section 8 (5) a councillor elected at a casual vacancy holds office only so long as the councillor in whose place he is elected would have been entitled to hold office if the vacancy had not occurred. The term of office of the councillors of the Municipality elected at the last ordinary elections or at casual elections would have expired on 31st october, 1955, under section 8 (1) and (5) of the Act as it stood before the amendment by Act XI of 1955 and there would have been an ordinary election for all the wards before that date. The amending Act provided that the term of office of councillors should be three years reckoned from the first of July following the ordinary elections instead of from the first of November as fixed by section 8 (1) of the Act as it originally stood. The term of office of the sitting municipal councillors which would have expired on 31st October, 1955, was extended up to 1st July, 1956, by section 4 of Act XI of 1955 which runs as follows :-"4. Extension of the term of office of councillors holding office at the commencement of this Act.- notwithstanding anything contained in the principal Act, the term of office of the councillors holding office at the commencement of this Act and of those who may be elected in their places at casual elections shall extend upto, and expire at, noon on the first day of July. 1956 ; and the State government shall cause elections to be so held that the newly elected councillors may come into office at noon on the first day of July, 1956 and hold office for the period mentioned in section 8 of the principal Act as amended by this Act. "

( 3 ) IN addition to this provision a further amendment was made by adding a new sub-section (1-A) to section 8 of the Act in these terms :-" (1-A) The State Government may, by notification, for sufficient cause to be stated therein, direct that the term of office of councillors of any council as a whole shall extend upto, or expire at, noon on such date as may be specified in the notification, such date being not later, or, as the case may be, earlier than three months from the date on which such term expires under sub-section (1) ; the State Government may, from time to time, by notification, alter such date and fix another date instead. "

( 4 ) THE amending Act XI of 1955 received the assent of the Governor on 20th october, 1955 and was published in the Official Gazette on sand October, 1955. The contention of the petitioners is that in respect of wards Nos. 7,12, 15 and 30 there were no councillors holding office at the commencement of Act XI of 1955 the seats having fallen

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