SH. MADHO SINGH Vs. THE STATE OF PUNJAB THROUGH THE SECRETARY, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUNJAB, CHANDIGARH AND ANOTHER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) PETITIONER Madho Singh's election as a Municipal Commissioner of the Municipal Committee, Barnala, held on June 10. 1979, has been set aside by the State Government as a result of the election petition filed by Mukhtiar Singh, Respondent No. 2, the defeated candidate. The solitary ground pleaded for the setting aside of this election was that as a matter of fact 21 void votes were cast during the course of this election. The State Government taking that since the Petitioner had been able to secure only 17 votes more than the votes polled in favour of Respondent No. 2, came to the conclusion that the election had to be set aside in terms of a combined reading of Rules 51 and 63 of the Punjab Municipal Election Rules. As a result of this conclusion of the State Government the notification, Annexure P. 1, was issued on October 13, 1984, setting aside the election of the Petitioner as a member of the above noted Municipal Committee.

(2.) WHAT is now seriously being contended by the learned Counsel for the Petitioner is that mere participation or casting of the void votes during the course of this election cannot possibly lead to the conclusion that the result of the election had in any way been materially affected and in the absence of such a finding, the State Government could not set aside the election of the Petitioner. Concededly no such finding has been recorded either by the Election Commission, i.e., Sub Divisional Officer (Civil) Malerkotla or by the State Government before the issuance of the impugned notification Annexure P. 1. The contention of the learned Counsel for the Petitioner appears to be well merited and is rather supported by an authoritative pronouncement of a Full Bench of this Court in Parkash Chand v. State of Punjab, (1977) 79 P.L.R. 84. This is what the Bench has observed: