JUDGMENT

A.K. Kirty, J. - By these petitions under Article 226 of the Constitution the validity of the elections of the members or some of the members of many Municipal Boards and several Notified Area Committees and Town Area Committees in Uttar Pradesh, as also those of the presidents or Chairman, as the case may be, thereof or some of them, has been questioned. The impugned elections were held on May 30, 1971 to elect members of the Municipal Boards, Notified Area Committees and Town Area Committees. The election of the Chairman of Town Area Committee took place on the same date simultaneously with the general elections to elect members thereof as required by Sec. 8-A of the U.P. Town Areas Act, 1914, under which the Chairman also are to be elected by the electors. The Presidents of Municipal Boards and of Notified Area Committee are to be elected by the elected members. The elections of the Presidents took place on June 22, 1971. All the petitions were filed after May 31, 1971 when the results of the elections of the members had been declared. Some of them were filed shortly before June 22, 1971, but the majority after that date. In some cases ad interim orders were passed by this Court staying the declaration of the result of the election of the President and in some cases staying the issuance of notification under Sec. 56 of U.P. Municipalities Act, 1916 referred to as the Act hereinafter) which requires inter alia every election of a member or President of a Board and the due constitution of the Board to be notified in the official Gazette. This section applies to Notified Areas also, which are constituted under Sec. 337 of the Act. All the interim orders, however, were subsequently vacated after contest. The position before the hearing of these petitions commenced, thus, was that all the members, Presidents and Chairman concerned had assumed their respective offices and the Boards, Notified Area Committees and the Town Area Committees bad been constituted and were functioning as such.

2. Sec. 6 of the Act provides that in every Municipality there shall be a municipal Board which, under Sec. 9, shall consist of the president. and the elected members who shall not be less than 10 and not more than 40 as the State Government may specify. Sec. 10 empowers the State Government to vary the normal composition of a Board under circumstances specified therein. Except in the cases of supersession or dissolution, the consequences where of are provided for in Sec. 31 and 31-A of the Act, the term of every board, shall, under Sec. 10-A, be five years from the date of the Publication of the notification under Sec. 56. Power, however, has been given to the State Government to extend the term of all or any of the boards from time to time upto a maximum period of two years. Secs. 11-A, 11-B and 11-C relate to and provide for delimitation of wards. Sec. 13-A provides that the election of the members of a board shall be on the basis of adult suffrage. Sec. 12-B provides that there shall be an electoral roll for every ward to be prepared in the manner laid down. Under Sec. 12-C every person, other than a person disqualified under Sec. 12-D, who is qualified to be registered in the Assembly electoral roll relatable to the area comprised in the ward or whose name is entered therein, shall be entitled to be registered in the electoral roll of the ward. The electoral roll for each ward is required to be prepared by an Electoral Registration Officer under Sec. 12-F. The electoral roll for each ward is required by Sec. 12-G to be revised every year in accordance with the provisions of the Act, Sec. 12-H empowers the State Government to make, by order, provisions in respect of the matters, mentioned in clauses (a) to (g) thereof, concerning the electoral rolls. The State Government has made an order under this Section called the U.P. Municipalities (Preparation and Revision of Electoral Rolls) Order, 1953, which shall hereafter be referred as the