MEGHU Vs. DY.COMMISSIONER, MANDI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The matter was heard by us at considerable length yesterday. At the fag end, when the learned Counsel for the petitioner found that we were not agreeing with his submissions, a request was made to us that a similar matter had already been admitted by this Court. Reference to the case of Babu Ram v. State of H. P. (C. W. P. No. 647 of 1985) was given by Shri Kanwar. We directed to present case to be listed with Civil Writ Petition No. 647 of 1985 {Babu Ram v. State of H. P.). We also directed*that the names of the counsel, appearing in that petition, be also shown in the cause list. The case has been listed today. Shri Inder Singh, appearing for the petitioner in that case, has also appeared before us. He has brought to our notice the fact that there is no similarity in the present case and that of Babu Rams casein which the only question raised by him was that the decision of the competent authority striking off the name of Babu Ram from the electoral roll was based upon no evidence. We fail to understand why a reference to Babu Rams case was given to us by the learned Counsel, appearing for the petitioner.

(2.) In the present case the grievance of the petitioner is that it was not open to the prescribed authority, while trying the election petition, to go into the question whether the second respondent was eligible to file a nomination for the office of Pradhan of the Gram Panchayat. The precise submission made was that this question could only be gone into at the time of the scrutiny of the nomination papers and not thereafter.

(3.) The Himachal Pradesh Panchayati Raj Act, 1968, (for brief, "the Act") provides in section 5 (3) about the eligibility of a person who can become a member of the Gram Sabha. It says that "every person who has attained the age of eighteen years on the qualifying date and ordinarily resides in a village which forms a part of the Sabha area for a period of one year immediately before the qualifying date and whose name is registered in the register of members to be prepared and maintained by the Gram Panchayat in the prescribed manner, shall be a member of that Gram Sabha". Sub -section (5) of section 9 of the Act lays down the disqualifications in becoming a member of the Sabha. It is not necessary for us, for purposes of the present case, to notice those disqualifications.