Sanjib Banerjee, J.@mdashThe writ Petitioners are members of the South Andaman Zilla Parishad. The writ Petitioners appear to espouse the cause of some engineer employees of the Zilla Parishad suspended by the Adhyaksha of the Zilla Parishad, but it is not an altogether vicarious complaint.
2. There was a vigilance enquiry conducted against some employees of the Zilla Parishad and following the preliminary report, such employees have been suspended by orders passed by the Adhyaksha in two cases and by the Chief Executive Officer, at the instance of the Adhyaksha, in the other case.
3. The Petitioners say that the decision to suspend the employees was not made by the Zilla Parishad and the Adhyaksha having been elected to the post from the among the members of the Zilla Parishad, the Adhyaksha can have no greater authority than the Zilla Parishad as a collective body.
4. On the basis of the submission of the parties, the constitution of the Zilla Parishad appears to be on the following lines: There are several constituencies within each district which through up elected representatives who continue in Office for a period of five years. These elected representatives are the members of the Zilla Parishad. Each of the Zilla Parishads of these islands has 15 members. The 15 members elect one of them to be the Adhyaksha. Though Regulation 150 of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Panchayats) Regulation, 1994 does not clearly specify that that the election of the Adhyaksha will be held every year of the five-year term of a Zilla Parishad, Sub-regulation (6) thereof provides for a woman to be the Adhyaksha in the first and third years and a member of a scheduled tribe to be the Adhyaksha for the fifth and last year of the term. That would imply that the election for the post of Adhyaksha from out of the Zilla Parishad members has to be conducted annually, though it is possible for a woman scheduled tribe member to hold office for the entire life of a Zilla Parishad. The Chief Executive Officer is a bureaucrat.
5. Regulation 151 spells out the powers of the Adhyaksha:
151. The executive powers of the Zilla Parishad under this regulation and the responsibility for the due fulfilment of the duties imposed on the Zilla Parishad under this regulation and for carrying out the resolutions of the Zilla Parishad shall vest in the Adhyaksha.
6. Regulation 163 of the said Regulations of 1994 lays down the duties and the functions of the Zilla Parishad. Schedule VI to the said Regulations of 1994 is the order of the Administrator specifying the matters to be dealt with by the Zilla Parishads. Neither Regulation 163 nor the sixth schedule to the said Regulations gives the Zilla Parishad any power in respect of the employees of the Zilla Parishads, particularly in matters pertaining to suspending them or taking disciplinary action against them. The parties submit that in view of a recent Division Bench judgment, the Lieutenant Governor as Administrator has no authority to suspend or dismiss an employee of any Zilla Parishad.
7. The Respondents refer to Rule 46 of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Panchayat Administration) Rules, 1997 that, after its 2000 amendment, provides that the Central Civil Service (Conduct) Rules, 1964 and the Central Civil Services (CCA) Rules, 1965 as applicable to Central Government servants shall apply mutatis mutandis to officers and employees of the panchayat administration. The Respondents rely on Rule 10 of the CCS (CCA) Rules which postulates that an employee may be suspended by the appointing authority or any authority to which it is subordinate or the disciplinary authority or any other authority empowered by the President to exercise such power. The Respondents contend that since the Adhyaksha is the appointing authority, the power to suspend an employee of the panchayat has to be seen to vest exclusively in the Adhyaksha. It is recorded that it has not been disputed by the Petitioner that the Adhyakasha is the appointing authority as far as the concerned panchayat employees are concerned.
8. The question is as to whether the Adhyaksha, who is the first among equals among the members of the Zilla Parishad, enjoys any additional powers such that a decision relating to the suspension of an employee can be taken by the Adhyaksha without reference to the Zilla Parishad. On a reading of Regulation 151 and Regulation 163 of the said Regulations of 1994, it does not appear that any plenary or additional powers are vested in the Adhyaksha for the Adhyaksha to exercise the same without reference to the Zilla Parishad.
9. Though it is contended that the several "ands" used in Regulation 151 describing the several duties and powers of the Adhyaksha are all disjunctive, it makes little difference. The first duty or authority of the Adhyaksha under Regulation 151 is to exercise the executive powers of the Zilla Parishad; the second affixes responsibility on the Adhyaksha for the fulfilment of the duties imposed on the Zilla Parishad by the said Regulations; and, the third is for carrying out the resolutions of the Zilla Parishad. In each case as is evident from the Regulation 151, the authority of the Adhyaksha is neither divorced from that of the Zilla Parishad nor is the Adhyaksha placed at an elevated pedestal within the Zilla Parishad. The Adhyaksha exercises such executive powers as are available to the Zilla Parishad and the Adhyaksha is accountable for the due compliance with the provisions of 1994 Regulations by the Zilla Parishad. The third limb makes the Adhyaksha an instrument for carrying out the mandate of the Zilla Parishad. In other words, the Adhyaksha acts for and on behalf of the Zilla Parishad and is subject to such body''s control.
10. That a separate set of rules or an administrative fiat issued by the Administrator confers some authority on the Adhyakshas of the Zilla Parishads will not materially effect the authority, status or powers of the Adhyaksha. In there being a separate set of rules or in the Administrator naming the Adhyaksha as the authority for carrying out some other exercise, no additional power is vested in the Adhyaksha save that such powers can only be exercised under the signature of the Adhyaksha. It is apparent that if a decision pertaining to a matter has to be taken by the Adhyaksha, the Adhyaksha cannot act in contravention of the wishes of the Zilla Parishad or its majority members. The Zilla Parishad retains the ultimate authority in every matter that the Adhyaksha is empowered to deal with.
11. An argument has been made on behalf of the Respondents that the Sixth Schedule to the 1994 Regulations, which is referred to in Regulation 163 thereof, does not include the power of the Zilla Parishad to deal with the panchayat employees or the authority to suspend them. But on a conjoint reading of the relevant provisions, which, unfortunately, leave a lot to be desired, it is evident that an employee of the panchayat is subject to the ultimate control by the Zilla Parishad and not by its Adhyaksha alone. The Adhyaksha is, however, the mouthpiece or face of the Zilla Parishad qua the employees.
12. The said Regulations and the rules thereunder framed for the purpose of the functioning of the Zilla Parishads and its Adhyakshas appear to be incomplete and several loopholes have to be plugged to avoid needless controversies and avoidable confusion, particularly since the members of the Parishads are political creatures. Even then, on a reading of the Regulations and the extent of the powers conferred thereunder to the Zilla Parishad and the Adhyaksha, it cannot be said that the Adhyaksha would have the sole prerogative of considering as to whether any panchayat employee should be suspended without any reference to the Zilla Parishad. The ultimate power vests in the Zilla Parishads and its Adhyakshas derive the authority from such bodies.
13. There is a possible argument, one which has not been made, that at the end of the day if the Zilla Parishad is unhappy with its Adhyaksha, the Adhyaksha can be removed. That an Adhyaksha can be removed does not necessarily imply that a past and concluded transaction undertaken by an Adhyaksha who has subsequently been removed can be altogether undone by a subsequent Adhyaksha. It flows from the same that the power exercised by an Adhyaksha will be subject to the control and ultimate say of the Zilla Parishad as a collective body or its majority members, including in matters pertaining to the suspension of the employees of a panchayat. In a sense, the Adhyaksha is the instrument but the Zilla Parishad is the mechanic.
14. Since it appears that three concerned employees were suspended by the Adhyaksha or by the Chief Executive Officer on the instructions of the Adhyaksha without reference to the Zilla Parishad, WP No. 031 of 2011 is disposed of by directing the Adhyaksha to place the matter pertaining to the suspension of the three employees before the Zilla Parishad at a duly constituted meeting to be convened for such purpose within three weeks from date whereat the propriety of the decision may be gone into by the Zilla Parishad.
15. This order should not be understood to imply that for every minor matter the Adhyaksha has to go to the Zilla Parishad and obtain its nod before functioning; but in major matters as to suspension of employees and the like, even if administrative exigencies require the Adhyaksha to take a decision without prior approval, ordinarily the Adhyaksha should place the matter for ratification by the Zilla Parishad as soon as possible.
16. There will be no order as to costs.
Urgent certified photocopies of this order, if applied for, be supplied to the parties subject to the compliance with all requisite formalities.
