1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY, BENCH AT AURANGABAD WRIT PETITION NO.2111 OF 2010 Sou.Neeta w/o Raosaheb Katkade .. Petitioner Versus The State of Maharashtra through its Secretary, Department of Rural Development and Water Conservation, Mantralaya, Mumbai 32 and ors. .. Respondents Shri S.S.Jadhavar, Advocate for petitioner Shri K.J.Ghute Patil, Assistant Govt.Pleader for respondent No.1 Shri S.T.Shelke, Advocate for respondents 2 and 3 CORAM : P.V.HARDAS AND S.V.GANGAPURWALA, JJ. DATE : 13th April 2010 PER COURT : 1. By this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India the petitioner prays for issuance of a writ of certiorari and for quashing and setting aside the Notification dated 4.2.2010 issued by respondent No.3 and also prays for directing the respondents 2 and 3 to form/constitute the wards of village Katkarwadi in accordance with Rule 3 of the Bombay Village Panchayats (Number of Members, Division into Wards and Reservation of Seats) Rules, 1966 by taking into consideration the number of voters and number of members to be elected from each ward. 2 2. By virtue of the Notification which is impugned in the present petition, the village Katkarwadi is divided into three wards. Ward No.1 consists of houses 1 to 35 while Ward No.2 consists of houses 36 to 65 and Ward No.3 consists of houses 62 onwards. According to the population the Notification contemplates two seats for Ward No.1 while three seats for Ward No.2 and two seats for Ward No.3. Thus, as far as village Katkarwadi is concerned, on the basis of population seven seats have been provided in the forthcoming elections. 3. According to Shri Jadhavar, learned Counsel for the petitioner, the formation of the Wards itself is defective as more number of houses should be included in Ward No.2 as three seats have been provided otherwise there would be disproportion between the number of houses and the number of voters vis-a-vis the number of seats provided for in the said Ward. 4. On notice being issued to the respondents, the respondents have filed their affidavit-in-reply. In the affidavit-in-reply, it is stated that the number of seats and the division of the Wards has been made on the basis of the population of the village as per the census figures. It is stated that population of Ward No.1 is 110 while population of Ward No.2 is 170 and population of Ward No.3 is 118. In that light of the matter, therefore, it is stated that since the population of Ward No.2 is more than three seats have been provided. Shri Shelke, learned Counsel for 3 respondents 2 and 3 has made available to us the census figures of the population which indicate that village Katkarwadi comprises of 89 houses and the total population of the said village is 398. We have no reason whatsoever, therefore, to doubt the correctness of the census figures as well as the break-up of the wardwise population. 5. We, therefore, see no merit in the present petition as the number of seats in a Ward cannot be determined on the basis of voters. It is true that a strange situation arises in the present petition that the number of voters of the village have exceeded the total population. Since the census figures are available which is of the year 2001, such anomaly is bound to arose. In any event the formation of the Wards has been made on the basis of population of the village based on the census figures and we thus see that the provisions of law have been complied with while forming the Wards. We, therefore, see no grounds for interfering in the present petition and the petition is accordingly dismissed with no order as to costs. ( S.V.GANGAPURWALA, J.) ( P.V.HARDAS, J.) (vvr/2111.10wp)