KANDAPPAN Vs. ELUMALAI GOUNDAR AND ANR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a petition under Article 227 of the Constitution to revise the order of the Election Commissioner, (District Munsif, Salem) setting aside the election of the petitioner to the office of President of Thirumalagiri Panchayat. The petitioner and the first respondent who had both been elected as members of the Panchayat were competing candidates for the presidentship thereof. In the election held for the purpose at the meeting of the members of the Panchayat on 24th June, 1959, the petitioner who secured a larger number of votes was declared elected. Disappointed at the result of the election the first respondent filed a petition before the-Election Commissioner challenging the election of the petitioner as President under the rules framed under Section 112(2)(i) of the Madras Village Panchayats Act, 1950, also praying that the election of the petitioner should be set aside and that he should be declared as duly elected for the office. The only ground alleged in support of the petition was that on the date of the election, the petitioner had not completed the age of 21 years as required by the statute and being born only on 17th July, 1940, the inclusion of his name on the electoral rolls of the Panchayat was improper and that, therefore, the election was void. The electoral roll which has been exhibited in the case, though prepared in the year 1953 was corrected up to the year 1958. It shows the petitioner's age to be 22 years. The petitioner denied that he was less than 21 years of age on the date of the election contending that his date of birth was 15th December, 1936 and not 17th July, 1940 as alleged by the petitioner. In a fairly well reasoned order the Election Commissioner held that the petitioner must have-been born only in the year 1940 and that the inclusion of his name in the electoral roll was incorrect and improper observing

(2.) That order of the Election Commissioner is challenged in this Civil Revision Petition. The finding of the Election Commissioner that the true date of birth of the petitioner was 17th July, 1940 besides being justified on the evidence is one of fact which will be binding on me in this Revision Petition.

(3.) One contention of the petitioner before the Election Commissioner was that the recital as to the age of the petitioner in the electoral roll was conclusive on the question and that it was not competent for that authority to investigate into the correctness thereof. The Election Commissioner has rightly overruled this objection. Section 12 of the Madras Village Panchayats Act, 1950, provides for the preparation and publication of the electoral roll and the qualifications for inclusion of names of persons therein. Sub-section (1) to that section provides that every person whose name is included in such part of the electoral roll for any Assembly Constituency as relates to the village or any portion thereof would be entitled to be included in the electoral roll for the Panchayat. Dealing with the electoral rolls for the Assembly Constituency, Section 19 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, prescribes that a person should not be less than 21 years of age on the qualifying date to entitle him to-be registered on the electoral roll. It can, therefore, be taken that unless the petitioner had completed the age of 21 years on the date of the preparation of the electoral roll his name could not be deemed to have been properly included therein. Section 13 of the Madras Village Panchayats Act states that no person shall be qualified for election as member of a Panchayat unless his name appears on its electoral roll. It must, therefore, be taken that the qualification as to age is an essential requisite for election to the Panchayat as well. In Venkata Kondayya V. Election Commissioner,1958 AndhWR 133, the Andhra High Court accepted this view and held that the qualification as to age should be satisfied before a person can stand as a candidate for election as a member of a Panchayat but that conclusiveness of the electoral roll would not avail against a statutory disqualification, namely, a voter not having completed the-age of 21 years.