MOHAMMAD AKBAR Vs. LOKENATH MOHANTY AND ANR.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Petitioner -a candidate at the Khurda Notified Area Council election -challenges the - decision of the Election Tribunal (District Judge), Puri, by which the Tribunal set aside the election of the Petitioner on the ground that the Petitioner, being unable to read and write English, Hindi or Oriya (the language of the State), was disqualified under Section 16(1)(iii) of the Orissa Municipal Act 1950 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) which is admittedly appealable to elections to Notified Area Councils as well. The Petitioner also challenges the decision of the Tribunal by which he declared opposite party No. 1 Lokenath Mohanty to be duly elected to the said Council.

(2.) THE material facts are these: The Petitioner and opposite party no, 1 were the only two contestants for election of a member of the Khurda Notified Area Council from Ward No. 10. The nomination papers were scrutinised by the Returning Officer. Opposite party No. 1 filed an objection before the Returning Officer to in invigilates valirlate the nomination paper of the Petitioner on the ground that he was unable to read or write English, Hindi or Oriya. The -Returning Officer, while overruling the objection of the said opposite party, found that the nomination paper of the Petitioner was valid. After polling, the Petitioner was declared duly elected as a member of the Khurda Notified Area council by a majority of 42 votes, in that out of a total of 400 votes the Petitioner panned 221 votes and the opposite party No. 1 polled 179.

(3.) AS regards the Petitioner's disqualification for election, the Tribunal, on evidence, gave the finding that the Petitioner is unable to read or write either English or Hindi and that he is also unable "'to read or write Oriya. The principle governing the standard of knowledge of any of these languages as required for a Municipal Council or is clearly laid down in a Division Bench decision of this Court Kelei Mulik v. State of Orissa and Ors., 29 C.L.T. 148. 150 :, I.L.R. 1964 Cutt. 671, 673, where it was held: