Appearance of parties

(1) A woman or any other person specially permitted by a Panchayat, being a party to any proceedings before it may appear through any other person authorised in this behalf. (2) For the purposes of this section, authorised person shall not include any legal practitioner or any person acting as a clerk to any legal practitioner or a petition-writer or a tout declared as such under section 36 of the Legal Practitioners Act, 1879.