RAJBALI SINGH Vs. SHYAMLAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) There is an appeal by certificate. It relates to the elections to Municipal Council, Sidhi. The elections were held in 1969. In that election six persons i.e. four appellants and respondents 5 and 6 in this appeal were elected. Thereafter the first respondent herein an elector and apparently a busybody filed a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution in the High Court of Madhya Pradesh challenging the validity of the election of all the returned candidates on several grounds. The High Court accepted that petition and set aside the election of all the returned candidates. The only ground on which the election of the returned candidates was set aside is that the returned candidates in their nomination papers had merely mentioned the number of the wards for which they were candidates but had failed to mention the names of those wards. It is not the case of the election petitioner nor is it the finding of the High Court that there was any difficulty in identifying the ward in which the concerned returned candidate wanted to seek election. The Returning Officer did not find any such difficulty. He accepted their nomination papers. Admittedly every ward had a specified number in addition to having a name.

(2.) The High Court was of the opinion that the successful candidates' failure to mention the name of the ward in their nomination papers was fatal and therefore the Returning Officer was not competent to accept their nominations. It thought that it was mandatory for all the candidates to mention in their nomination papers the names of the wards in which they wanted to seek election. Further it opined that a mere mentioning of the number of the ward may lead to clerical errors and therefore the rule-making authority had prescribed that the name of the ward also should be mentioned in the nomination paper. It is nobody's case (supra) that in the nomination papers with which we are concerned there were any errors as regard the ward numbers.

(3.) Let us now examine whether the High Court was justified in taking such a technical view of the matter. The election to the municipal councils is regulated by Rule 13 of the Rules framed under the Madhya Pradesh Municipalities Act, 1961. Rule 13 (1) reads: