BUDAN Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an appeal filed under Clause 10 of the Letters Patent by Shrimati Budhan against the order of a Single Judge dismissing her petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution'.

(2.) THE facts are that in December, 1963 the election of the Gram Panchayat took place in the village of Tungbala and the Appellant was one of eleven candidates who stood for the office of Panch. There we're two candidates for the office of Sarpanch, a man named Swarnjit Singh and a woman, the contesting Respondent, Shrimati Swinder Kaur. In the contest for the Sarpanchship Swarnjit Singh obtained 601 votes as against 211 given in favour of Swinder Kaur and Swarnjit Singh was accordingly elected. In the voting for Panchships the Appellant only obtained either 14 or 15 votes (the figures are given differently in the written statements of the official Respondents and Shrimati Swinder Kaur) and she was not elected. She was, however, co -opted by the Panchayat under the provisions of the proviso to Section 6(1) of the Punjab Gram Panchayat Act. Section 6(1) reads:

(3.) THE learned Single Judge rejected this contention and dismissed the writ petition on the strength of the decision of Dua, J. and himself in Civil Writ No. 1103 of 1964, Shrimati Hargobind Kaur v. The State of Punjab and Ors. decided on the 21st of September, 1964. In that case the Petitioner had stood as a candidate for the office of Sarpanch in her village, but was defeated by a male candidate by a comparatively narrow margin, 499 against 442.