(1.) Election for the post of Sarpanch of Gram Panchayat Village Mangoraka was held on 17.1.2016. The said post was reserved for a woman candidate and the petitioner and respondent No.1 were candidates there for. As per law, a woman candidate for the post of Sarpanch who possess the educational qualification of 8th Class pass is eligible but the petitioner did not possess the said qualification which motivated respondent No.1 to make a complaint to the Deputy Commissioner/District Election Officer. The State Election Commission Haryana, vide its letter dated 10.1.2016, directed the Deputy Commissioner/District Election Officer to conduct an enquiry into the matter but he did not take any action. The petitioner was declared elected and, therefore, respondent No.1 challenged her election by way of an election petition on the ground that she did not possess the requisite educational qualification and, thus, her election is void and should be set aside. Vide impugned order dated 19.1.2018, the learned Additional Civil Judge (Sr. Div.), Hathin, allowed the election petition and set aside the election of the petitioner. A direction was also issued for conducting a fresh election. Aggrieved by this order, the elected candidate has preferred the present writ petition.
(2.) While issuing notice of motion, operation of the impugned order was stayed and, thus, fresh elections have not been held. A detailed written statement has been filed on behalf of respondent No.1-Election petitioner.
(3.) Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that the impugned order is illegal and is liable to be set aside as the findings therein are perverse and contrary to the record. The petitioner had proved that she is 8th Class pass by way of marksheet Exhibit RW2/A. Her transfer certificate is Exhibit RW2/B. These documents have been proved by RW-2 Ram Gopal, Assistant Teacher, Shri Radha Krishna Puran Middle School, Tilkagarhi, District Mathura, U.P. and, thus, the learned Additional Civil Judge (Sr. Division), Hathin, was not justified in setting aside her election. The finding that her mark-sheet and transfer certificate are forged documents, cannot be sustained in law because forgery has to be proved beyond reasonable doubt and respondent No.1 has failed to provide evidence which could conclusively establish that her school record was forged. The learned Additional Civil Judge (Sr. Div.), Hathin has passed the impugned order on the basis of inferences and the same is not permissible in law. Thus, the impugned order deserves to be set aside.