ORDER :

1. The petitioner is the accused in S.T. No. 1551/2013 pending before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Kunnamkulam. It is a private complaint filed by the Avanoor Grama Panchayath under section 210 of the Kerala Panchayath Raj Act, 1994 (for short Act 1994). The case of the complainant is that the accused has not paid the building tax for the building in the industrial unit of the petitioner situated at Velakode Industrial Estate, Thrissur.

2. Annexure-A12 is the complaint filed by the Panchayat against the petitioner. It is the case of the petitioner that, the building is situated in the industrial development plots at Velakode under the auspices of the Department of Industries, Government of Kerala, and have been exempted from payment of building tax. According to the petitioner, as per section 1(2) of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, Panchayat has no jurisdiction over the industrial areas. The unamended section 1(2) of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 is extracted herein-below:

“1(1) XXXX

1(2) It extends to the whole of the State of Kerala except the areas which are within the limits of the Cantonments, Nagar Panchayats, Municipal Councils, Municipal Corporations an