Petitioner is Kalatharachira Padasekharam.

2. In this writ petition, prayers sought by the petitioner are to declare that the 1st respondent Panchayat has no manner of authority over the sluice at the Kalatharachira Kochuchira Bund and that the said Panchayat has no authority to auction the right of prawn farming/fishing at the said minor irrigation sluice by virtue of the provision contained in Section 218 of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 (hereinafter referred to as Act for short). A further direction to the 1st respondent to refrain itself from taking any steps to auction or grant the right of prawn filtration, farming and fishing at the sluice situated in the Kalatharachira Kochuchira Bund and to refrain from demanding any amounts from the petitioner or its members towards prawn farming/fishing is also sought for.

3. Petitioner is a registered society with a membership of 282 small farmers together owning about 200 acres of paddy field consisting of the padasekharam. Petitioner states that inspite of the fact that the members of the padasekharam alone have ownership over the aforesaid 200 acres, the Panchayat is attempting to auction the rights of prawn farming/fi