CHAUDHARY VELAJIBHAI MULJIBHAI Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) With the consent of the parties, the matter is finally heard today.

(2.) The eight petitioners were elected under S. 11(1)(i) of the Gujarat Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1963. Their election was challenged by the respondents Nos. 6 to 13 who had also contested the election and lost the same. The election was challenged on the only ground that the voters list was prepared on illegal principle and the election based on such illegal voters' list has to be necessarily set aside. It was submitted that 13 members of the managing committee of Boratwada Seva Sahakari Mandali Ltd. were illegally included in the voters' list of the constituency of agriculturists and they had voted at the election and, therefore, the election is illegal. The election was challenged under Rule 28 of the Gujarat Agricultural Produce Markets Rules, 1965 which provides that if the validity of any election of a member of the Market Committee is brought in ques-tion, the Director shall, after giving an opportunity to the applicant of being heard and after making such inquiry as he deems fit, pass an order confirming or amending the declared result of election or setting the election aside and such order shall be final. The Director, by his order dated 28/05/1992, confirmed the declaration of the result.

(3.) Being aggrieved thereby, the respond-ents Nos. 6 to 13 preferred a revision applica-tion before the Government under S. 45 of the Act and the Government allowed that revi-sion application and set aside the order of the Director and directed fresh elections to be held.