ORDER :

CHANDRA REDDY, J.

1. This petition relates to elections to the Panchayat Board of Kandikuppa, East Godavary District.

2. The Panchayat of Kandikuppa originally consisted of the main village of Kandikuppa and the hamlet of pallam, the population of the hamlet being nearly double that of the main village. As the Regional Inspector of Local Administration, Northern Range, Rajahmundry, felt that there should be a separate panchayat for the main village of Kandikuppa, taking into account the representations made by the villagers of that village, he decided to bifurcate this village into two panchayats. For this purpose, a notification was issued declaring this as a village, under Section 3 of the Madras Village Panchayats Act, 1950 as amended by the Andhra Act XXII of 1955 on 26-5-1959.

3. After the bifurcation of the Panchayat of Kandikuppa, the District Panchayat Officer, Kakinada, had issued a notice on 30-7-1959, under Section (1) of the Madras Village Panchayats Act, proposing the division of the said panchayat into five wards. Elections to Kandikuppa Panchayat were held on 21-10-1959 on the basis of the division of the panchayat into wards mentioned above. It is to quash the