FARAZ FATMI Vs. ASHOK KUMAR YADAV

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this election petition, the election petitioner has challenged the election and declaration of respondent no.1 Ashok Kumar Yadav as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the State in the Assembly Election held in the year 2010 from 86, Keoti Assembly Constituency of district Darbhanga.

(2.) As per the election petition, it was alleged that, in fact and in reality, the election petitioner secured the majority of valid votes and had held 286 more valid votes than respondent no.1, but while the election petitioner waited for formal declaration, apparently there was some manipulation made and respondent no.1 was then declared elected by a margin of 33 votes over the election petitioner. The election petitioner has alleged that the results were manipulated at the time when counting was going on, wherein some of votes polled in his favour were wrongly counted in favour of respondent no.1 and at the end of the counting the result sheet was manipulated changing the result in favour of respondent no.1. He further alleged that margin being small, the postal ballots ought to have been counted and if they were counted, the result would have changed.

(3.) Upon notice of this election petition, apart from others, respondent no.1 appeared and contested the claims of the election petitioner. In the written statement, respondent no.1, the winning candidate, clearly mentioned that there were no manipulations either in course of counting or at the end. It was stated that the election petitioner never protested at any point of time during the course of counting and only in the end when the election petitioner found himself having lost, he manufactured vague and unsubstantiated allegations demanding recounting. It was further stated in the written statement that the election petitioner has not pleaded material facts, materials to the issues raised and sought dismissal of the election petition in absence thereof.