Biswanath Somadder, J.

To be or not to be; even that is not the question! Panchayat election must be held in the State of West Bengal – as soon as possible – both parties cry out in unison! Yet, the West Bengal State Election Commission and the State of West Bengal have locked horns and are now before a Constitutional Court seeking appropriate directions for holding such election!

The instant writ petition has been filed by the West Bengal State Election Commission (hereinafter referred to as “the Commission”), principally seeking the following reliefs: -“a) A Declaration that the 1st & 2nd impugned Notifications dated 22nd March 2013 and 26th March 2013 are unconstitutional, illegal and void;

b) A writ of and/or in the nature of Mandamus do issue commanding and directing the respondent State to forthwith withdraw and cancel the impugned notifications;

c) A writ of and/or in the nature of Mandamus do issue commanding and directing the respondent State and its servants and agents to forthwith implement the requirements spelt out in its letters and in particular those contained in the letter dated 25th March 2013 and thereafter issue a notification under S.42 of the West Bengal Panchayat Elections Act in accordance with law, and effectively cooperate with the Commission for holding the Panchayat elections as early as possible;

d) A Declaration that Section 42 of the West Bengal Panchayat Elections Act, 2003 read with Section 8 of the West Bengal State Election Commission Act, 1994 is ultra vires as it offends Article 243K of the Constitution of India;”

Initially, when the matter was taken up for hearing, this Court – considering its importance and paucity of time – had requested the learned senior counsel representing the Commission and the learned Advocate General to sit across the table and try and resolve the issues sought to be raised in the instant writ petition, out of Court. However, since the impasse could not be resolved across the table, this Court has now been left with no other option, but to decide the matter on its merit.

Before going into interpretation of certain provisions of law, which would ultimately decide the fate of holding Panchayat election in the State of West Bengal, it is necessary, at first, to advert to the submissions made on behalf of the Commission and the State.

The main thrust of the submission advanced by the learned senior counsel representing the Commission was centered around the consultative process required to be followed before the State Government issued a notification under section 42 of the West Bengal Panchayat Elections Act, 2003 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”). According to the learned senior counsel, there were several outstanding issues, which were required to be resolved through effective and meaningful consultation, before the State could issue the impugned notifications dated 22nd March, 2013 and 26 th March, 2013 under section 42 of the Act. During the course of hearing of the matter, the State Government had issued another notification under section 42 of the Act on 04 th April, 2013, which has been taken on record in terms of an earlier order dated 09th April, 2013.

The learned senior counsel appearing on behalf of the writ petitioner submitted that there were primarily four outstanding issues as on 16th April, 2013. Without resolving those issues – through an effective and meaningful consultative process – the State of West Bengal could not have issued the notification under section 42 of the West Bengal Panchayat Elections Act, 2003, on 22nd March, 2013. The four outstanding issues are as follows:

1. Deployment of adequate security forces including Central Paramilitary Force (CPMF).

2. Appointment of balance 134 observers as per section 134 of the West Bengal Panchayat Elections Act, 2003.

3. Phasing of the elections, i.e. the number of phases and grouping of the Districts.

4. Funding by the State.

So far as the consultative process for deployment of Cen