DWIJABAR DAS Vs. HARIPADA BISWAS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal arises out of a suit for setting aside an election of the defendant as the Chairman of the Barrackpur Union Board within the district of Khulna. The suit was instituted by two persons, Krishnagopal Das and Dwijabar Das, and the grounds, on which the election of the defendant, Haripada, was sought to be set aside, were, among others, that Haripada had not had the requisite qualifications of a voter according to the provisions of Section 7, Bengal Village Self-Government Act, 1919 and that he was nob a resident of the Union as contemplated by Section 7, sub-section (2) of that Act. The Court of first instance found both these points against the defendant and decreed the plaintiffs suit. On appeal, this decision was reversed by the Court of appeal below, and the learned Subordinate Judge, who heard the appeal, dismissed the suit holding that Haripada had the requisite qualifications of a voter and that he was a resident within the Union. Dwijabar, Plaintiff 2, is the appellant before us, plaintiff 1, Krishnagopal, not having joined in the appeal.

(2.) The controversy before us centred round the questions whether Haripada was a qualified voter or not and whether he was a resident within the Union of Barrackpur. It appears that Haripada's name was entered in the voters list and it appears also that he has been assessed with the Union rate of Rs. 2 per year.

(3.) It was contended that, as he was neither the owner nor the occupier of a building within the Union, he was not legally assessable and that the assessment made on him was therefore illegal and that, accordingly, he was not qualified as a voter. This contention may be technically correct, but, in my opinion, not so in substance. "What happened, on this point, was this. Haripada's father was an old retired pensioner, who left all bis family affairs in the charge of his only son, Haripada. Haripada was, as it were, the karta of a joint undivided Hindu family, consisting of himself and his father and the assessment shown on Haripada was really an assessment on the family. The record shows that Haripada's father duly nominated his son to manage the family affairs. In these circumstances the first ground on which the election of the defendant was attacked was not, in my judgment, of any real substance.