RAM GOPAL Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS order will dispose of Civil Writ Petition Nos. 2594, 2576, 2674 and 2535 of 1978 in which common questions of law and fact are involved.

(2.) THE petitioners in all the four writ petitions are residents of Adampur, Kohli, Kishangarh Mazra Khara Barwala and Mandi Adampur--all in Tahsil and district Hissar respectively. All the four villages have been declared Sabha area under Section 4 of the gram Panchayat Act and a Gram Panchayat has been established in each under Section 5 of the Gram Panchayat Act. Under Rule 2 (f) of the Gram Panchayat Election Rules, 1960 an 'elector' means a person who entered in the electoral rolls of the State Legislative Assembly, in force for the time being in relation to the Sabha area concerned. The petitioner in each C. W. P. were entered as voters in the electoral rolls for Legislative Assembly in force for the time being in relation to their concerned Sabha area. The Sub-Divisional Officer (Civil), Hissar, in exercise of powers as Electoral Registration Officers deleted the names of the petitioners as also of many others from the electoral rolls and further made addition of many persons as voters. The orders regarding deletion and addition were passed on June 2, 1978 and a list thereof was issued on June 4, 1978. The polling for electing the Members of the Panchayat was fixed for June 10, 1978, June 8, 1978, June 6, 1978 and June 6 1978 for Sabha areas of Adampur, Kohli, Mandi Adampur respectively. The petitioners having been denied the right, to exercise the right of franchise and some of them to contest the election have filed the four writ petition alleging that the deletion of their names as also of many other persons in a surreptitious manner and without affording them a reasonable opportunity and the additions of the names of many person as voters have vitiated the electoral rolls and the election of the Members of the Panchayats held on the basis thereof is liable to be set aside.

(3.) ALL the four writ petitions were first contested by the official respondent and the private respondents who were elected as members of the respective Panchayat in the elections held on the dates specified above. Later on during the pendancy of the petitions, the official respondents changed their stand conceding that irregularities had been committed in the matter of deletion of names of the petitioners and of many others from the concerned electoral rolls without affording them a reasonable opportunity.