( 1 ) ). This petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution raises an interesting and neat question of law whether the Chairman of the Social Justice committee of the Taluka Panchayat (hereinafter referred to as the Committee) elected by the members of the said Committee from amongst themselves can be removed by its members by passing a motion of "no-confidence".

( 2 ) ). The petitioner is an elected member of Kheralu Taluka Panchayat-respondent no. 2 herein. In her capacity as a member of Taluka Panchayat the petitioner was elected as a member of the Social Justice Committee of the Taluka Panchayat. The committee has five members and from amongst the members of the Committee the petitioner was elected as the Chairman of the said Committee on January 18, 1996. Thereafter on April 19, 1997, the remaining four members of the Committee moved a motion of no-confidence and therefore, the Taluka Development Officer, who is the Secretary of the Panchayat, informed the petitioner that the motion of noconfidence was received on April 19, 1997 and it was also forwarded to the petitioner on the same day. Hence, if the petitioner did not convene a meeting of the Social justice Committee within 15 days, the meeting will be convened by the Taluka development Officer or the District Development Officer. In view of the said communication dated April 28, 1997 the petitioner filed the present petition on April 30, 1997.

( 3 ) ). The petition is filed for quashing and setting aside the said communication and for a declaration that the said notice was without jurisdiction and beyond the scope of provisions of the Gujarat Panchayats Act, 1993 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) and also for a declaration that the motion of no-confidence against the petitioner was without jurisdiction and beyond the scope of provisions of the Act.

( 4 ) ). Before narrating the submission of the learned Counsel for the parties it will be useful to refer to the statutory provisions regarding the Social Justice Committee of the Taluka Panchayat. It is constituted under the provisions of S. 123 of the act for performing such functions as are considered essential for securing social justice to the weaker sections of the society including persons belonging to the scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes as may be prescribed. Sub-S. (3) of s. 129 provides that the Committee shall not consist of more than five members. Sub-S. (9) (b) provides that the term of the Social Justice Committee shall be coextensive with the duration of the Panchayat. The constitution of the Social Justice committee shall be such as may be provided subject to the provisions of sub-sec. (3 ). Sub-S. (5) provides that the members of the Committee shall be elected by the Panchayat from amongst its members. Sub-S. (6) and sub-S. (9) are strongly pressed into service by the learned Counsel for the petitioner and the same are quoted here under :" (6) Where any Committee is constituted under this section, the members of the committee shall elect from amongst themselves the Chairman of the Committee : provided that - (a) where the President and Vice-President both are members of any such Committee, the President shall be the ex-officio Chairman of such Committee and if he declines to hold the office, the Vice- President shall be the ex-officio Chairman of the Committee, unless he also declines to hold the office, (b) where only one of them is a member thereof he shall be the ex-officio Chairman of the Committee, unless he declines to hold the office and (c) a person who is not a member of the Panchayat shall not be eligible to be the chairman of any Committee. "sub-S. (9) provides as under :" (9) (A) The term of each of the Committees other than the Executive Committee and the Social Justice Committees shall be for such period not exceeding one year as may be determined by the Panchayat. (b) The term of the Executive Committee shall be two years and on expiry of its term, the Committee shall