RAMDAYAL AYODHYAPRASAD GUPTA Vs. K.R. PATIL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an appeal under Section 116 -A of the Representation of the people Act, 1951 (hereinafter referred to as Act of 1951) by one Ramdayal Ayodhyaprasad Gupta, a defeated candidate at the election held on January 24, 1958, for electing five members to the Legislative Council of the State of Bombay from the Vidarbha Local Authorities' Constituency.' The questions raised in this appeal relate to the scope and ambit of expressions 'Municipality' and 'Janapada Sabha (Rural Circle)' appearing in the Fourth Schedule of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 (hereinafter referred to as Act of 1950).

(2.) ARTICLE 171 of the Constitution relates to the composition of the Legislative Council. It provides that the Legislative Council of a State shall consist of members elected from certain electorates referred to in Sub -clauses (a) to (d) of Clause (3) of this article and of certain nominated members as provided in Sub -clause (e) of the said Clause (3). We are here concerned with the electorate mentioned in Sub -clause (a) of Clause (3) of Article 171 which is an electorate consisting of members of municipalities, district boards and such other local authorities in the State as Parliament may by law specify. Clause (2) of this article provides that until Parliament by law otherwise provides, the composition of the Legislative Council of a State shall be as provided in Clause (3). The Act of 1950 was enacted by the Parliament to provide for the allocation of seats in; and the delimitation of constituencies for the purposes of elections to, the House of the People and the Legislatures of States, the qualifications of voters at such elections, the preparation of electoral rolls, the manner of filling seats in the Council of States to be filled by representatives of Union territories, and matters connected therewith. Part II -A of Act of 1950 relates to the appointment of the officers for carrying out duties enjoined on them under the Act. Section 13 -A provides for appointment of a Chief Electoral Officer for a State, and Section 13 -B empowers the State Government to appoint Electoral Registration Officer for each Assembly Constituency as well as Council Constituency, and he is entrusted with the work of preparation and revision of the electoral rolls. Section 27 (Part IV) deals with preparation of electoral rolls for Council Constituencies. Sub -section (1) of Section 27, inter alia, provides that the constituencies referred to in Sub -clause (a) of Clause (3) of Article 171 would be termed as 'Local Authorities' Constituency.' Clause (a) of Sub -section (2) of Section 27 provides that for the purpose of elections to the Legislative Council of a State in any local authorities' constituency the electorate shall consist of members of such local authorities exercising jurisdiction in any place or area within the limits of that constituency as are specified in relation to that State in the Fourth Schedule. Clause (b) thereof provides that every member of each such local authority within a local authorities' constituency shall be entitled to be registered in the electoral roll for that constituency. The local authorities specified in the Fourth Schedule in relation to the State of Bombay are - (1) Municipalities. (2) District Local Boards. (3) Cantonment Boards.

(3.) TO implement the direction given by Sub -section (5) of Section 5 of the Legislative Councils Act, the Deputy Commissioner of Nagpur came to be appointed as Electoral Registration Officer under Section 13 -B of the Act of 1950 for Vidarbha Local Authorities' constituency. The Chief Electoral Officer, Bombay, issued directions to various Electoral Registration Officers, including the Deputy Commissioner, Nagpur, vide his letter dated November 4, 1957, the material part whereof reads as follows: So far as the local authorities' constituencies are concerned, Government has proposed you for appointment as the Electoral Registration Officer for the constituency mentioned in column 1 of the attached statement. You are, therefore, requested to prepare the electoral rolls of the local authorities' constituency for which you are being appointed as Electoral Registration Officer. According to the provisions of Sub -section (2) of Section 27 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, every member of the constituent local authority within a local authorities' constituency will be entitled to be registered in the electoral roll of that constituency without any reference either to the qualifying date or qualifying period. The electoral roll for the local authorities' constituency will consist of a list of such members. In view of this, the question of publishing these rolls either preliminarily or finally does not arise. In pursuance of these directions, the Deputy Commissioner, Nagpur, in his capacity as Electoral Registration Officer of the Vidarbha Local Authorities' Constituency prepared the electoral roll, but it does not appear to have been formally published, presumably on account of the directions contained in the aforesaid letter of the Chief Electoral Officer, Bombay. In the Bombay Government Gazette of December 26, 1957, two notifications under the signature of Under Secretary to the Election Commission and purported to be of date December 17, 1957, were published. By one notification, Vidarbha Local Authorities' Constituency was called upon to elect 5 members. The second notification published the various dates appointed by the Election Commission in connection with the election. December 27, 1957, was the last date fixed for making nominations, December 30, 1957, for the scrutiny of the nomination papers, January 2, 1958, as the last date for withdrawal of candidatures, January 24, 1958, for taking a poll, if necessary, and February 8, 1958, was the date for completing the election.