R. K. ABICHANDANI, J.

( 1 ) THE petitioners who were the members of Malia gram Panchayat from 1968-73 have challenged the order of the learned District judge, Junagadh dated 17-2-1984 passed in Civil Miscellaneous Application No. 11 of 1983 and the order of the Mamlatdar, Malia-Hatina dated 11-1-1983 holding the petitioners liable for loss of tax on buildings and lands for the period from 1- 4-1971 upto 30/04/1973 under Sec. 317 of the Gujarat Panchayats Act, 1961.

( 2 ) THE petitioners were elected as members of the said Panchayat in 1968, the term of which came to an end on 31/04/1973. The petitioner No. 2 was elected as Sarpanch and the petitioner No. 1 as Upa-Sarpanch. A Gram Panchayat is empowered to levy the taxes and fees at such rates as may be decided by it and in such manner and subject to exemptions as may be prescribed, under Sec. 178 (1) of the said Act, subject to any general or special order of the State Government. Under clause (i) of Sec. 178 (1), a Gram Panchayat can levy a tax on buildings and lands. By Amendment Act 1 of 1968, sub-sec. (1a) was added to Sec. 178 whereunder it was provided that it shall be compulsory for a Gram Panchayat to levy a tax on buildings and lands referred to in clause (ii) of sub-sec. (1) and at least any two of the other taxes or fees referred to in that sub-section after the expiry of a period of two years from 1/04/1968. Accordingly, from 1/04/1970 it became compulsory for a Gram Panchayat to levy a tax on buildings and lands besides any other two items from Sec. 178 (1 ). However, it was only on 3/07/1973 that resolution No. 28 was passed by the said Panchayat deciding to impose such tax from 1/01/1974. Before the formalities could be completed and the tax finally imposed, the term of the Panchayat came to an end on 31/12/1973 when the petitioners ceased to be the members of the Panchayat. The newly elected Body of the said Panchayat, to which none of the petitioners were members, continued the work of assessment. In the meantime, the District Development Officer, junagadh by his order dated 14-1-1975 directed the Gram Panchayat to impose and collect tax from 1/04/1970 and in default of such levy, he recommended to supersede the Gram Panchayat under Sec. 297 of the Act. Therefore, the new elected Body of the Panchayat imposed the tax retrospectively from 1/04/1970 on lands and buildings. The inhabitants of the Gram Panchayat feeling aggrieved by the levy with retrospective effect, filed Civil Suit No. 231 of 1975 in the Court of Civil Judge (J. D. ). In the said suit, the petitioners were co-plaintiff. The suit was decreed on 20/10/1976 and the house tax as imposed by the Panchayat retrospectively was held to be illegal and without jurisdiction. The trial Court found that it was decided on 5/02/1975 to levy the said tax from 1/04/1970 instead of 1/04/1974 but there was nothing to show that objections were invited before deciding to levy taxed from 1/04/1970. This was considered to be a material defect. The Court held that the Panchayat had failed to observe the procedure prescribed under Rules 3 and 4 of the Gujarat Gram and Nagar panchayats Taxes and Fees Rules, 1964. As provided by Rule 4, the tax or fee could be levied from the date specified in the notice which shall not be earlier than one month after the date of the publication of the notice. Accordingly, the house tax imposed by the Panchayat was declared as null and void. In the process of that decision, the learned Civil Judge (J. D.) made certain observations against some of the plaintiffs, i. e. , the petitioners herein, who were former members of the Panchayat. The trial Judge had observed that in his opinion there was gross misconduct on the part of the Sarpanch and the members of the Panchayat to perform the duties of the Panchayat and that the mandatory requirement of Sec. 178 (1a) of the said Act was violated by not imposing the house tax from 1-4-1970. The learned trial Judge lamented "reasons are best known to

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