Employees of Janpad and Jila Panchayats in Madhya Pradesh are not Government servants as there is no provision in the Madhya Pradesh Panchayat Acts for establishing a Panchayat service like the one in Gujarat.

V.S. Kokje, J.

1. This order shall also govern the disposal of Misc. Petition No. 1305/87 (Panchayat Karmachari Sangh, M.P. v. The State of M.P. and Ors.).

2-3. The petitioner No. 1 in Misc. Petition No. 982 of 87 is a registered Association of employees of Janpad Panchayat and Jila Panchayat of district Ratlam. The other petitioners are or were employees of these Panchayats. The petitioner No. 1 in Misc. Petition No. 1305/87 is a Trade Union named Panchayat Karmachari Sangh, M. P. duly registered under the Trade Unions Act, 1926, it is represented by its President and office bearers. In both these petitions a declaration that the employees of the Janpad Panchayat and Jila Panchayat are Government servants has been sought and a direction has been sought that they be treated as Government servants and be paid all the benefits, which are available to a Government servant. A grievance of discrimination has been made on the ground that some of the employees of Janpad Panchayat and Jila Panchayat in the Mahakaushal region are being given favourable treatment and are being given all the benefits of Government Service, the employees of Madhya Bharat region are not being given these benefits. However, the State Government in its return has refuted these allegations and no further particulars have been placed by the petitioners before us, on the basis of which the charge of discrimination can be decided. A rejoinder has been filed on behalf of the petitioners in -Misc. Petition No. 982/87, which heavily relies on the judgment of the Supreme Court reported in Mathuradas Mohanlal Kedia and Ors. v. S. D. Munshaw and Ors., AIR 1981 SC 53. At the time of argument also stress was laid on the aforesaid Supreme Court ruling and another reported in State of Gujarat & another v. Ramanlal Keshav Lal Soni and Ors., AIR 1984 SC 161.

4. It has been argued for the petitioners that in similar circumstances the servants of Janpad and Jila Panchayats have been given the status of Government servants by the Supreme Court. It is, therefore, necessary to examine the decision reported in Mathuradas's case (supra). The question before the Supreme Court in that case was whether Panchayat service constituted under Section 203 of the Gujarat Panchayat Act, 1962 was a Civil Service of the State. After examining the provisions of the Gujarat Panchayat Acts,, the Court held that the Panchayat service constituted under Section 203 of the Gujarat Act had all the characteristics of a Civil Service of a State and was, therefore, a Civil Service of the State of Gujarat.

5. We have to exercise caution in reading and interpreting the aforesaid judgment especially because the judgment was not conclusive as would be clear from its paragraph 25. Two questions, were answered by the Court and the cases were directed to be fixed before a larger Bench. Not only this, the same cases, namely, Mathuradas's case and the State of Gujarat's case (supra) were decided by another five Judge Bench of the Supreme Court, the decision of which is reported in AIR 1984 SC 161 (supra). In para 2 of this judgment, it has been stated that the judgment reported in AIR 1981 SC 53 was set aside and the appeal and the Writ Petitions were directed to be set down for hearing once more by the Constitution Bench and that is how the matter again went before the Constitution Bench. Technically, therefore, the judgment reported in AIR 1981 SC 53 could not have been cited before us because it has already been set aside. However, it would not make much diference because the judgment reported in AIR 1984 SC 161 also takes the view that the members of the Panchayat service constituted under Section 203 of the Gujarat Act is a Civil Service and the members of the Panchayat service were Government servants. It is clear from a reading of both the aforesaid judgments that though it has been held that the members of the Panchayat service constituted under Section 203 of the Gujarat Act were Government servants, it