Hon’ble Sudhir Agarwal, J.—Heard Sri B.C. Rai for petitioner, learned Standing Counsel for respondents 1 and 2 and Sri R.P. Srivastava for respondent No. 3 and perused the record.

2. Sri Rai has basically assailed the validity of 20th Amendment of U.P Palika Services (Centralized) Services Rules, 1966 (hereinafter referred to as “Rules, 1966”) and contended that the same is ultra vires of Section 300 and 300-A of U.P. Municipalities Act, 1916 (hereinafter referred to as “Act, 1916”) read with Section 23 of General Clauses Act, 1904 (hereinafter referred to as “Act, 1904”). He has also assailed the orders dated 5.9.2011 and 12.10.2009 (Annexures 13 and 15 to writ petition) whereby Director, Local Bodies has declined to accept the claim of petitioner for promotion on the post of Executive Officer being inconsistent with the existing Rules. Lastly he has sought a mandamus directing respondents not to proceed ahead with recruitment process initiated through U.P. Public Service Commission (hereinafter referred to as “UPPSC”) pursuant to requisition dated 12.7.2007 and 28.9.2008 on the post of Executive Officer, Nagar Panchayat through direct recruitment.

3. Facts in brief giving rise to the present dispute are as under.

4. Petitioner was appointed as Clerk on 5.7.1988 in Town Area, Dasna, District Ghaziabad. It is not in dispute it was a Local Body constituted under U.P. Town Areas Act, 1914 (hereinafter referred to as “Act, 1914”). Petitioner claims that a Class III employee of Town Area was entitled to be considered for promotion to the post of Executive Officer for which Rules provided 50 per cent recruitment by promotion which has been amended now in a manner that now petitioner is excluded from the field of eligibility and zone of consideration in a wholly illegal manner, and, particularly when the amendment has not been made in accordance with the procedure prescribed in law. He further contended that the aforesaid Amendment is ultra vires and cannot affect the vested rights of petitioner to be considered for promotion to the post of Executive Officer.

5. Before coming to detailed discussion of the issued raise above, it would be appropriate at this stage to have a bird eye view of statutory provisions relevant in the present case.

6. There are two types of statutory provisions pertaining to local bodies which need be considered herein. One is relating to ‘Municipality’ and another is ‘Town Area’.

Town Area:

7. United Province Town Areas Act, 1914 (U.P. Act No. 2 of 1914) i.e. Act, 1914 was enacted under Section 40 of Indian Councils Act, 1861 with the assent of Lieutenant Governor on 24.12.1913 and Governor General on 25.2.1914. It was made initially for making better provisions for sanitation, lighting and improvement of Town Areas in the ‘United Province of Agra and Oudh’.

8. The term “Town Area” was defined in Section 2(8) which read as under:

“2. (8) “town area” means any local area which the State Government has declared or defined under Section 3 to be a town area;”

9. Section 3 talks of declaration etc. of “Town Areas” and read as under:

“3. Declaration and definition of town areas.—(1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette-

(a) declare any town, village, suburb, bazar or inhabited place to be a town area for the purpose of this Act and may unite, for the purpose of declaring the area constituted by such union to be a town area, the whole or a portion of any town, village, suburb, bazar or inhabited place with the whole or a portion of any other town, village, suburb, bazar or inhabited place;

(b) define the limits of any town area for the like purpose;

(c) include or exclude any area in or from any town area so declared or defined; and

(d) at any time cancel any notification under this section;

Provided that an agricultural village shall not be declared, or included within the limits of a town area.

(2) The decision of the State Government that any inhabited area is not an agricult