OM PRAKASH NIRALA Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard learned counsel for the petitioner, learned counsel for the State, learned counsel for the Bihar State Election Authority, learned counsel for the Bank and learned counsel for the private respondent no. 11.

(2.) The issue which arises for consideration in the present writ application is whether a co-opted Chairman of the PACS is entitled to vote in the election of Magadh Central Cooperative Bank Limited, Gaya (hereinafter referred to as the -Bank-) or not.

(3.) Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that very briefly the facts are stated which have bearing on the adjudication of the case. It is next submitted that one Umesh Kumar Verma, the father of respondent no. 11 (M.L.A., Gurua Assembly Constituency) was elected as the Chairman of the Managing Committee of the Bank on 18/1/2018. He was elected as the Chairman of the Bank on the ground that he was elected the Chairman of Gurua PACS in the district of Gaya. The said Umesh Kumar Verma while being the Chairman of the Bank contested the election for the post of the Chairman of Gurua PACS in the election held on 16/12/2019. Further, since the terms of the office-bearer of the bank was coming to an end on 18/1/2023, as such, the State Election Authority had issued a detailed programme for holding the election of the bank and respondent no. 4 was appointed as the Returning Officer for the election. The respondent no. 4 prepared a draft voter list (Annexure-1) for the purposes of election and published it for general information inviting claims and objections. The said voter list also included the name of respondent no. 11 as a voter in the election, his name was included on the ground that he is co-opted Chairman of Gurua PACS. The petitioner objected the inclusion of respondent no. 11 as a voter in the voter list for the ensuing bank election (Annexure-2) on the ground that co-opted member is not eligible to be enrolled as a voter.