Point of Law: In a judicial proceeding any interference of an order which a person may be beneficiary of cannot be initiated and concluded without issuing notice to person who is beneficiary.

JUDGMENT :

(A.M. Bujor Barua, J.)

Heard Mr. D Hussain, learned counsel for the writ appellants. Also heard Mr. S Dutta, learned counsel for the respondents in the P & RD Department, Ms. U. Das, learned counsel for the respondent no. 3 being the Deputy Commissioner, Karimganj and Mr. PK Roychoudhury, learned counsel for the respondent no. 8.

2. Nine members of the Maizgram Gaon Panchayat made a requisition dated 07.09.2021 for a meeting of no confidence against the President of the Gaon Panchayat, namely Hitendu Rudrapaul. Under Section 15 (1) of the Assam Panchayat Act, 1994 (in short, Act of 1994), the meeting of no confidence is required to be convened by the Secretary of the Gaon Panchayat with the approval of the President of the Gaon Panchayat within a period of fifteen days from the date of receipt of the notice. In the event the meeting could not be convened because of the approval not being given by the President, the Secretary of the Gaon Panchayat within a period of three days, after expiry of fifteen days from the receipt of the notice, is required to refer the matter to the President of the concerned Anchalik Panchayat, who thereupon shall convene the meeting within seven days from the date of receipt of the information from the Secretary of the Gaon Panchayat and preside over such meeting.

3. In the instant case, when no approval of holding the no confidence meeting was granted by the President, the Secretary of the Gaon Panchayat on 15.09.2021 had informed the President of the North Karimganj Anchalik Panchayat requesting for a special meeting to be held. If under the provisions of Section 15 (1) of the Act of 1994 the Secretary can refer the matter to the President of the Anchalik Panchayat upon expiry of fifteen days from the date of receipt of the notice, which in the instant case is 07.09.2021, the expiry of fifteen days would have taken place on 24.09.2021 meaning thereby that before 24.09.2021 the Secretary could not have made a request to the President of the Anchalik Panchayat to convene the meeting of no confidence. But in the instant case the records reveal that on 15.09.2021 itself the Secretary of the Gaon Panchayat had made a request to the President of the North Karimganj Anchalik Panchayat to hold a special meeting and accordingly, the special meeting was held on 28.09.2021.

4. The very aspect that the Secretary of the Gaon Panchayat without waiting for expiry of the fifteen days had made a request to the President of the Anchalik Panchayat to requisition the no confidence meeting, was the ground for the President of Gaon Panchayat namely, Hitendu Rudrapaul to institute a writ petition assailing the resolution of the no confidence against the President passed on 28.09.2021 and the writ petition was numbered as WP(C)/5985/2021.

5. By the order dated 15.11.2021 the learned Single Judge required the copies of the writ petition to be served upon the respondents no. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7 being the officials under the P&RD Department as well as the respondent no. 3 being the Deputy Commissioner of Karimganj district and accordingly, the matter was ordered to be listed on 29.11.2021 requiring the respondents in the P&RD Department to place the relevant records in original before the Court. On 29.11.2021, the matter was ordered to be listed on 02.12.2021. On 02.12.2021, the learned Single Judge had perused the records in original as produced by the P&RD Department and upon hearing the submissions of the learned counsel had ordered that the matter be listed after three weeks for necessary order. At that stage the writ petition was not listed any further and ultimately it was listed on 29.05.2023.

6. During the interregnum while WP(C)/5985/2021 was pending the Vice President of the Gaon Panchayat who was amongst the nine members who made the requisition had discharged the function of the President of the Gaon Panchayat inasmuch as under Section 15 (1) of the Act of 1994 there is a legal fiction that a President o