A K GOPALAN Vs. ELECTION COMMISSIONER OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Shri A. K. Gopalan by means of this petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution of India has prayed for the issuance of a writ to quash the electoral rolls of 133 Assembly Constituencies of Kerala Prayer has also been made for a direction to the respondents to carry out special revision of electoral rolls in accordance with law.

(2.) The petitioner is an elector of the Cannanore (2) Assembly Constituency in Kerala. He is a member of Parliament and is the leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). The respondents in the petition are the Election Commission of India and the Chief Election Commissioner of India. The present petition was filed by the petitioner on July 29, 1970.

(3.) The Legislative Assembly of Kerala was dissolved by the Governor of the State on June 26, 1970. The electoral rolls of the Assembly Constituencies, according to the petitioner, contained fictitious and wrong entries as a result of the manipulations of the then party in power in Kerala- The petitioner in that connection sent a memorandum to respondent No. 2 on July 10, 1970. Thereafter, on July 22, 1970 the petitioner personally met respondent No. 2 and submitted another memorandum complaining of the defects in the electoral rolls. A copy of the electoral rolls is stated to have been supplied to the political parties in July. 1970. Those electoral rolls, according to the petitioner, were draft electoral rolls and there was no proper publication of the said rolls. The respondents are further stated to have directed special revision of electoral rolls and the publication of the final rolls on August 8. 1970 (this date was subsequently altered to August 10, 1970). The petitioner has claimed that the special revision of the rolls was not in accordance with law.