1. Short facts involved herein are that the petitioner is a Co-operative Society duly registered under the provisions of M.P. Co-operative Societies Act. Most of the members of the petitioner belong to Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe community. Applicants for grant of pond known as Bodal Bahra situated in the area of Gram Panchayat Sonpuri were submitted by the petitioner as well as respondent No. 4 for obtaining it on lease for a period of 10 years for cultivation of fish. Gram Sabha of village Sonpuri held a meeting which was attended by 470 members who passed the resolution in favour of the petitioner for allotment of pond for a period of 10 years. Resolution was passed on 3.7.2007. Its copy is on record as Annexure P-2. Respondent No.4 raised objection in the nature of appeal before the SDO, Baihar District Balaghat which was registered as panchayat case No. 31A-89 year 2006-07. Learned SDO allowed the objections vide his order dated 15.10.2007 (Annexure P-4) setting aside thereby the resolution of the Gram Sabha. Learned SDO, further directed for grant of lease of pond in favour of respondent No.4.

2. Aggrieved by the aforesaid, the petitioner has submitted the present writ petition with two fold contentions. Firstly, it is constituted by Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe members and is entitled to preference in view of the Govt. Circular dated 15.11.1999 as revealed in Annexure P-5. Secondly, the appeal before SDO was not maintainable according to the M.P. Gram Sabha (Appeal) Rules, 2001.

3. Learned counsel for the respondent contended that the SDO even under the M.P. Gram Sabha (Appeal) Rules, 2001 is well competent to deal with the appeal.

4. Considered the submissions.

5. It may be seen that a decision was taken vide Annexure P-2 by the Gram Sabha to allot the pond to the petitioner. This decision was appealable under Rule 3 of the M.P. Gram Sabha (Appeal) Rules, 2001 (hereinafter referred to as 'Gram Sabha Rules' for brevity).

Rule 3 reads as under :--

3. Appeal and appellate authority -- Save as otherwise provided in the Act or rules or byelaws made thereunder an appeal against the decision of a Gram Sabha shall lie to a committee constituting of the President of Janpad Panchayat, a member of Janpad Panchayat of that area and Sub-Divisional Officer (Revenue). The President of Janpad Panchayat shall be the President of the Appeal Committee."

6. Clause (b) of Rule 2 defines appellate authority as Appeal Committee constituted under Rule 3 of Gram Sabha Rules. By virtue of Rule 3 a decision of Gram Sabha may be assailed in appeal before a Committee liable to be constituted by President of Janpad Panchayat, a member of Janpad Panchayat of that area and SDO (Revenue). Gram Sabha Rules were made applicable from the date of publication of the Rules in M.P. Gazettee. Rules were published in the M.P. Gazette (Extraordinary) dated 5.3.2001. Thus, the Rules were already in force and Sub-Divisional Officer, Baihar had no power to deal with the objections/appeal preferred before him. Since, an appeal has been expressly provided by Gram Sabha Rules, learned SDO could not have exercised the powers either under section 91 of the M.P. Panchayat Raj Evam Gram Swaraj Adhiniyam, 1993 or M.P. Panchayat (Appeal and Revision) Rules, 1995. Moreover, section 7-H of M.P. Panchayat Raj Evam Gram Swaraj Adhiniyam, 1993 is a substantive provision which provides for appeal against the decision of the Gram Sabha. It reads as under :

"7-H. Appeal in a Committee against the decision of Gram Sabha.-An appeal against the decision of a Gram Sabha shall lie to a committee consisting of the President of Janpad Panchayat, a member of Janpad Panchayat of that area and the Sub-Divisional Officer (Revenue) in such manner as may be prescribed."

7. Since, section 7 - H read with Rule 3 of Gram Sabha Rules provides specific forum of appeal, learned SDO, Baihar had no jurisdiction to decide the objections/appeal preferr