SHRINIWAS Vs. KESHRI CHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A short but interesting question as to whether a person receiving no vote at an election should be considered to have obtained the lowest member of votes or not arises in this case.

(2.) The undisputed facts are that for the election to the office of Chairman of the Municipal Board, Nokha four persons were duly nominated as candidates. The voting was completed in three rounds and the votes obtained by each one of the four candidates in the three rounds ware as under :-- Ist IInd IIIrd round round round 1. Kesarichand 5 5 8 2. Shri Niwas 7 8 7 Gangadutt 3 2 10 Dev Kishan 0 8 ('E' stands (or elimination)

(3.) The respondent Kesarichand obtained the highest number of votes in the third round and as such he was declared elected to the office of Chairman of the Municipal Board, Nokha. The case of the petitioner-appellant is that Devkishan having received no vote in the first round, he should not have been considered at all to have been a candidate at the election and Gangadutt should have been eliminated in the first round on the basis of receiving the lowest number of votes and thus there should have been only two rounds and not three rounds.