RAMJI LAL SARDA Vs. GOPAL SHARAN NATH SAHDEO

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Petitioner has preferred this Election Petition under Section 80A and 81 of the Representation of People Act, 1951 challenging the election of the Respondent No. 1 Gopal Sharan Nath Sahdeo (since died) i.e. the returned candidate from 64, Hatia Assembly Constituency in the State of Jharkhand requesting for an order under Section 9 of the Representation of People Act, 1951 by holding that Respondent No. 1 Gopal Sharan Nath Sahdeo was declared as the returned candidate from the said constituency by adopting corrupt practice and influencing the returning officer and other Counting Staff including the Polling Staff of some of the booths. The Petitioner further requested for recounting of the entire votes polled in the Electronic Voting Machines. By filing Interlocutory Application No. 1169 of 2011 on 13.04.2011 it was stated therein that one of the prayers of the Petitioner in the Election Petition was for recounting of total votes polled on 25.11.2009 in 64, Hatia Assembly Contituency on the basis of the allegations made in the main petition to which the Respondent No. 9 Shri Navin Kumar Jaiswal filed a reply to the Interlocutory Application aforesaid wherein he asserted that if the Electronic Voting Machines had recorded wrong impression while counting of votes then it would be presumed that the Electronic Voting Machines were faulty and therefore, in the circumstances, recounting of votes which were polled in faulty Electronic Voting Machines would itself be faulty and therefore no useful purpose would be arrived at by recounting of votes. Moreover, it was further replied, that it was not the allegation of the Petitioner that the provision of Rule 49(E) of the conduct of the Election Rules, 1961 were not complied.

(2.) A counter-affidavit was filed on behalf of the Respondent No. 2.Urmila Yadav wherein she has given vivid description of the Counting Hall of 64, Hatia Assembly Constituency on the date of counting and stated that she had objected in complaint to the Returning Officer as to why the cell phones of the candidates and their agents were restricted at the gate of the Counting Hall but the Counting Agents and the Supervisors of the returned candidate Gopal Sharan Nath Sahdeo were permitted to take the cell phones inside, yet, no action was taken by the Returning Officer. Neither satisfactory reply was given nor the Returning Officer ever tried to stop the discrimination. During closure of the counting of votes, the candidate and their agents, who were present in the Counting Hall were informed by the Returning Officer that total votes polled were 150088 and that Gopal Sharan Nath Sahdeo was trailing by 60 votes from Ramji Lal Sarda (Petitioner herein). She further narrated that in the meantime, the. Returning Officer went out and returned back in the Counting Hall after about 40/45 minutes and declared that total votes polled were 150164 and that Gopal Sharan Nath Sahdeo got 75 votes more than what the Petitioner Ramji Lal Sarda obtained and accordingly, the former was declared as the returned candidate to which serious objections were raised by the Counting Agents explaining that when total votes polled were 150088 then how 150164 votes were counted as the total votes entered in the Electronic Voting Machines and further, that how Gopal Sharan Nath Sahdeo got 76 more votes beyond what were polled by the voters of the said Constituency.

(3.) In the supplementary rejoinder the Respondent No. 9 Navin Kumar Jaiswal contended that total 16 rounds of counting was held in the Counting Hall. The candidate belonging to Congress Party was shown to have obtained 393434 votes whereas B.J.P. candidate had obtained 39496 votes, as such, there was lead of 153 votes in favour of the B.J.P. candidate (i.e. the Petitioner herein) but in the 16th round of Counting of Votes from the E.V. Ms collected from the Booth No. 356 to 359 the congress candidate got 578 votes' whereas B.J.P. candidate got only 400 votes and thereafter the congress candidate got 178 more votes in 64, Hatia Assembly Constituency as per Election Index Card prepared on 25.11.2009 and approved by the Chief Returning Officer (Annexure-A/9) and therefore the entire allegations as levelled by the Petitioner for adopting corrupt practice can be set aside.