Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan, J.

1. An Office Attendant in a Grama Panchayat challenges his transfer to another Grama Panchayat under orders of the jurisdictional Deputy Director of Panchayats in the Government of Kerala. The learned single Judge, examining the question of jurisdiction, found himself unable to agree with the ratio of Minimol Vs. Director of Municipalities [2012 (1) KLT 600], that even after the constitution of the State Administrative Tribunal in Kerala, under the provisions of Section 15 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985, for short, the 'AT Act' -, members of the Municipal Common Service can agitate their service disputes in the High Court. Hence, this reference to the Division Bench.

2. In the reference order, the learned single Judge has pointed out that the stipulation in sub-section (1) of Section 180 of the KPR Act that panchayat employees (except contingent employees) are full scale government servants needs to be considered.

3. The learned counsel for the petitioner argued that the status obtained by the panchayats following 73rd amendment to the Constitution introducing Part IX puts the panchayats in a pedestal much higher than what they