( 1 ) THROUGH this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner questions the vires of S. 30 (1) (e) of the Madhya Pradesh Panchayat Act, 1981 (Act No. 35 of 1981 ). This provision is as follows"30. Disqualification for being office-bearer of Panchayat.- (1) No person shall be eligible to be an office-bearer of a Panchayat who -xxx xxx xxx (e) has been dismissed from the service of the State Government or Central Government or the Panchayat or any other Local Authority or a Co-operative Society or any public sector undertaking under the control of the Central Government or the State Government; or"

( 2 ) AS a step towards implementation of the directive principle contained in Article 40 of the Constitution of India that the States shall take steps to organise village Panchaynts and endow them with such power and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self government, the State of Madhya Pradesh first enacted the Madhya Pradesh Panchayats Act, 1962. This Act was subsequently replaced by the Madhya Pradesh Panchayat Repeal Ordinance, 1981 (No. 6 of 1981) and the Madhya Pradesh Panchayat (Amendment) Ordinance, 1981 (No. 8 of 1981) which have since been repealed by the Madhya Pradesh Panchayat Act, 1981 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) which received the assent of the Governor on 6th October, 1981 and was published in Madhya Pradesh Rajpatra on 7th October, 1981. The repealed Panchayats Act, 1962 provided for establishment of Gram Sabhas, Gram Panchayats and Janpad Panchayats. This three tier system of Panchayat Raj is maintained under the 1981 Act also Sec. 3 whereof provides that for the purpose of the Act, there shall be established a Gram Panchayat for a village or group of villagers; a Janpada Panchayat for a block; and a Zilla Panchayat for a district. According to S. 4 (I) of the Act, a Gram Panchayat for a village or group of villages is established by the order of the State Government or of any officer authorised by the State Government in this behalf specifying the name of the Gram Panchayat by which it shall be known, its headquarters, the limits of the area within its jurisdiction and population of the Gram Panchayat area. Such Gram Panchayats shall be a body corporate by the name specified therefor in the order or notification under Sec. 4, and shall have power to acquire, hold or transfer property, movable or immovable, to enter into contracts and to do all other things necessary for the purpose of the Act. Chapter-III of the Act contains various provisions for constitution of the Panchayats. For constitution of a Gram Panchayat, it contemplates preparation of a voters list. A person shall be disqualified for registration in the list of voters of a Gram Panchayat area, if he falls in any of the categories specified in clauses (a), (b), (c) or (d) of sub-section (1) of S. 9, which are as follows"9. Disqualification for registration of voters in the list of voters of Gram Panchayat area.- (1) A person shall be disqualified for registration in the list of voters of a Gram Panchayat area if he - (a) is not a citizen of India; or (b) is of unsound mind and stands as so declared by a competent Court; or (c) is convicted of an offence under the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 (No. 22 of 1955), unless a period of five years or such lesser period as the State Government may allow in any particular case, has elapsed since his conviction; or (d) is for the time being disqualified from voting under the provisions of any law relating to corrupt practices and other offences in connection with election; or the eligibilityqualifications for a person to be registered as a voter in the list of voters of Gram Panchayat are specified in Section 10. Every gram panchayat shall consist of " (i) Panchas elected from the wards; and (ii) Panchas co-opted, if any, under sub-sections (3), (4) and (5) of S. 11. Every person whose name is included in the list of vote