SURESH PAL SINGH Vs. STATE OF U.P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present petition has been filed challenging the order dtd. 4/8/2021 passed by the Regional Level Committee, Saharanpur Region, Saharanpur and also for a direction quashing the election dtd. 14/6/2021 of the Committee of Management of Jai Kisan Shakumbhri Devi Inter College, Fatehpur Kalan, District-Saharanpur (hereinafter referred to as, 'Institution'). Through order dtd. 4/8/2021, the Regional Level Committee has recognized the elections of the Committee of Managemnt held on 14/6/2021 electing one Gajendra Singh Chauhan as Manager of the Committee of Management of the Institution.

(2.) The facts relevant for decision of the present petition is that Jai Kisan Shakumbhri Devi Vidyalaya Sadharan Sabha, Fatehpur Kalan, Saharanpur (hereinafter referred to as, 'Society') is a Society registered under the Societies Registration Act and runs the Institution which is governed by U.P. Intermediate Education Act, 1921 (hereinafter referred to as, 'Act, 1921'). The Scheme of Administration of the Institution provides that the members of the Committee of Management and its office bearers shall be elected by members of the General Body of the Society. Clause 5(6) of the Scheme of Administration provides that the election programme to elect the Committee of Management of Society and its office bearers shall be decided by the Committee of Management for which the meeting of the Committee of Management shall be requisitioned by the Manager after approval of the Chairman of the Society. Clause 5(6) further provides that the aforesaid meeting shall be called three months before the date when the term of the previously elected Committee of Management expires and notice of the said meeting shall be sent to the members by registered post, if the total number of members of the Society is 100, and by publication in a local newspaper as well as by Post (UPC) if the total number of members of the Society is more than 100. Clause 5(6) further provides that the said meeting shall be for the purposes of publishing the list of members of the Society, appointment of Election Officer, date, time and place of Election, Nomination etc. which shall be published in a newspaper.

(3.) It has been stated in the petition that at present there are 327 valid members of the General Body of the Society and the previous election of the Committee of Management of the Institution was held on 24/6/2018. The term of the previous Committee of Management was to expire on 23/6/2021 and, therefore, the Committee of Management of the Institution vide its resolution dtd. 20/3/2021 decided to hold fresh elections and finalized the list of members of the General Body. It has been further stated that in the aforesaid meeting a panel of three persons to be appointed as Election Officer was prepared and the District Inspector of Schools (hereinafter referred to as, 'D.I.O.S.') was asked to appoint an Observer for the election. The D.I.O.S. vide his order dtd. 31/3/2021 approved the list of 327 members of the General Body and also appointed the Election Officer as well as Observer for the elections. It has been stated in the writ petition that initially the election programme was published in two newspapers namely 'Janvani' and 'Punjab Kesari' notifying 13/6/2021 as the date for election. The election programme was subsequently changed by the Election Officer and 14/6/2021 was notified as the date for election. Fresh notification was published in the Hindi Daily Newspaper Amar Ujala dtd. 3/6/2021. It has been further stated in the writ petition that the amended election programme was not sent to the members of the General Body by post and the amended election programme was not published in any newspaper having vide circulation because of which many members of the General Body who are residents of District-Ghaziabad, NOIDA, Haryana and Uttrakhand did not have notice of the revised election programme and, therefore, could not participate in the election. The petitioners participated in the election held on 14/6/2021 and Shri Gajendra Singh Chauhan, respondent No. 4 was declared elected as Manager of the Committee of Management of the Institution defeating petitioner No. 4. It has been further stated in the writ petition that major irregularities were committed in the election which vitiated the elections. It has been stated that the nomination papers of different candidates were finalized without considering and deciding the objections raised on it, no records were prepared by the Election Officer regarding the number of printed ballot papers and number of ballot papers used in the election, the voter list was not prepared by the Election Officer and the identity cards of voters was not verified by the Election Officer. It has also been stated that because of the aforesaid irregularities many persons who were not members of the General Body of the Society were able to cast votes. It has also been stated that the Ballot Boxes were not sealed either before the voting or after the voting despite repeated request for the same by the members of the Society, the records of election proceedings were not maintained by the Election Officer in his election diary, counting was not done in a fair manner and records relating to elections were not kept in safe custody. It has also been alleged in the petition that a torn ballot paper which was liable to be rejected has been counted in favour of the candidate elected for the post of Manager. It has been further stated that the aforesaid objections were raised by the petitioners before the Election Officer who paid no heed to the objections of the petitioner and objections were also filed by the petitioners before the D.I.O.S. It has been stated that from the report of the Election Officer, it is evident that only 294 members out of total 327 members had cast their votes, but no record has been maintained of the unused and rejected ballot papers.