T K KUNJALAN HAJI Vs. MUNSIFF TIRUR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The 2nd respondent filed Election Petition No. 3/63 to declare the election of the petitioner as a member of the Panchayat in question void and that he was the duly elected member. Among the grounds, the 2nd respondent alleged that the counting of votes was not properly done by the Returning Officer. He therefore, prayed for a recount of the votes. The petitioner opposed the petition on two grounds. In the first place he contended that there was no valid presentation of the election petition and as such no question of recounting arises. Secondly he contended that the Tribunal had no power to recount the votes and therefore, there should be no recounting of the votes. As regards the second point the Tribunal held that there was no necessity to order a recount and as regards the first question the Tribunal held that the election petition was validly presented. The writ petitioner questions the validity of this order on the ground that the view of the Tribunal that the election petition has been properly presented is erroneous, and therefore, there was no proper election petition before the Tribunal and prays for a writ of prohibition.

(2.) The relevant rules relating to the matter is contained in the Kerala Panchayats (Conduct of Election and Election Disputes) Rules, 1961. In this case the election petition was presented to the head clerk of the Munsiff's Court and not to the Munsiff personally. The contention of the writ petitioner was that the petition was not properly presented, and therefore, the Tribunal had no jurisdiction to enquire into the petition. The relevant portion of R.117 is in the following terms:

(3.) The writ petition fails, and it is dismissed. No costs.