An Additional Collector has the authority to exercise the powers and discharge the duties of a Collector, including the power to confirm the suspension of a Sarpanch under Section 39(2) of the M.P. Panchayat Raj Adhiniyam, 1993.

D.M. Dharmadhikari, J.

1. The petitioner has been suspended from the office of Sarpanch of Gram Panchayat, Salkhan in Tahsil Janjgir, district Bilaspur under Section 39(1) of the M.P. Panchayat Raj Adhiniyam, 1993 (hereinafter referred to as the 'the Act'), by impugned order dated 6-2-1998 (Annexure. P. 1).

2. The order of suspension requires confirmation by the State Government under Section 39(2) of the Act and the said suspension has been confirmed by order passed by the Additional Collector dated 18-5-1998 (Annexure. P.2). The main ground urged in assailing the order of suspension by the learned counsel Shri Prashant Singh for the petitioner is that in accordance with Section 39(2) of the Act the power of confirmation has not been exercised by the State Government. The State Government in exercise of powers of delegation under Section 93 of the Act has delegated the said power of confirmation to the Collector by notification published in M.P. Raj Patra dt. 2-2-1998. The contention advanced on behalf of the petitioner is that the power of State Government delegated to the Collector could not be validly exercised by the Additional Collector and, therefore, the suspension in the absence of valid confirmation has lost its legal efficacy. Learned counsel for the petitioner argued that the delegatee of a statutory power cannot further delegate the same and it is against the settled principle of administrative law. The Maxim "Delegatus non protest delegare" has also been pressed into service and reliance has been placed on the decisions in Barium Chemicals Ltd. v. Company Law Board, AIR 1967 S.C 295, State of Rajasthan v. Hariram, AIR 1976 S.C. 277, State of U.P. v. Dharmendra Prasad Singh, AIR 1989 S.C. 997, A.K. Roy v. State of Punjab, 1986 4 S.C.C. 326, State of Rajasthan v. Shri Hariram Nathwani, (1975) 2 S.C.C. 517, Marathwada University v. Shesrao Balwant Rao Chavan, (1987) Supp. S.C.C. 748, Matiullah S.K. v. State of West Bengal, AIR 1965 S.C. 132, Bombay Municipal Corporation v. Dhondu, AIR 1965 S.C. 1486, Gwalior Dist. Co-operative Central Bank v. Rameshchandra Mangal, 1984 Supp. S.C.C 528, and Sohanis Silk Mills v. Employees State Insurance, J.T. 1994 (5) S.C. 11 and the decision of this Court in W.P. No. 4498/96, Dr. P. G. Najpande v. J.N.K.V.V. decided on 13-5-1998.

3. On behalf of the respondents Shri R. S. Jha, Dy. A.G. for the State and Shri Rajeev Shrivastava, learned counsel appearing for the respondent No. 5 submit that the delegated power of Collector could be exercised by the Additional Collector as the Collector under the 'work distribution memo' had assigned the power to Additional Collector. Thus Additional Collector is empowered to exercise the power of confirmation of suspension. Recourse is taken to the provisions contained in Section 15 of the M.P.L.R. Code read with Section 17 of the M.P. General Clauses Act. Reliance by the respondents is placed on the decisions in the cases of Shantilal Jain v. M.L. Patil, 1988 M.P.L.J. 172 and Mirza Rashid Beg v. Inayatulla, 1986 M.P.L.J. 134 as also an unreported decision of this Court W.P. 4040/95, Pradeep Kumar Gandhi v. Vinod Kumar Goswami and Ors. decided on 10-3-1997.

4. The State Government has undisputedly delegated the power of confirmation by notification under Section 93 to the 'Collector'. The delegation is to the holder of the office of Collector. The word 'collector' has not been defined by the provisions of the Act. The Collector is an holder of an office under the M.P.L.R. Code and, therefore, recourse can be taken to the provisions of the Code. Section 16 of the M.P.L.R. Code contains powers to appoint Collector and reads as under :

"16. Power to appoint Collector. - The State shall appoint in each district a Collector shall exercise therein the powers and discharge the duties conferred and imposed on a Collector by or under this Code or any other enactment for the time being in force."

Section 17 of the Code provides appointment of 'Additional Colle