RAJIA ALIAS RATIA Vs. BALA DEVI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner and respondent No. 1 (besides certain others) contested the relevant Panchayat Election to the Office of Sarpanch. The petitioner got elected with 521 votes. Respondent No. 1 got 508 votes. The other contestants received unenviable low number of votes.

(2.) RESPONDENT No. 1 (Mst. Bala Devi) filed an election petition and applied for the invalidation of the election of the petitioner (before this Court) to the aforementioned office. The allegations, in the course of that election petition, were that the petitioner had indulged in corrupt practices and that the manner in which the votes had been counted was not in order. The suggestion thereby was that if the counting had been done properly, respondent No. 1 would have been found to have scored larger number of votes as against the petitioner.

(3.) THE learned Tribunal noticed the controversy about the validity of the counting of votes and directed a re-count vide the impugned order. It is that order which is under challenge before this Court at the hands of the petitioner.