KABUL SINGH Vs. KUNDAN SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Judgment of the court was delivered by

(2.) . This appeal under .Section 116-A of the Representation of People Act, 1931 (to be shortly referred to hereinafter as the Act) is directed against the decision of the High court of Punjab and Haryana in Election Petition No. 1 of 1968 on its file. In that election petition, Kundan Singh, the 1st respondent to this appeal challenged the validity of the returning officer's declarati(m that the appellant has been duly elected from the Hoshiarpur Local Authorities Constituency to the Punjab Legislative council in the election held in April, 1968. The High court came to the conclusion that some of the votes polled in that election were invalid votes and if the valid votes alone are taken into consideration, as it should have been, then the 1st respondent is entitled to be declared elected. It accordingly set aside the declaration made in favour of the appellant and declared the 1st respondent as having been duly elected.

(3.) . As seen earlier, the main contention in this appeal relates to the true effect of Ss. (3) of Section 23 of the Representation of People Act, 1950 (to be hereinafter referred to as the 1950 Act") which prohibits the deletion of any entry or inclusion of any name in the electoral roll of a constituency after the last date for making nominations for an election in that constituency and before the completion of that election. We have considered the scope of that provision in Baidynath Panjiar v. Sitaram Mahto and Others in which we have delivered judgment just now. In view of that decision, the view taken by the majority of the full bench must be held to be correct.