MD. SHAJAHAN Vs. MD. SADEQ

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Appellant before is a defeated candidate for election to the office of Chairman of Yakubpur Union Parishad in the district of Feni. The election was held on 28 December 1983 end respondent No. 1 was declared elected by the Returning Officer with a small majority of 17 votes (23262309=17). The appellant challenged the election by an election Petition under the Local Government (Union Parishad) Ordinance, 1983, before the Munsif-cum-Election Tribunal, Daganbhuian, bringing a number of allegations which related to the election held in one of the three Polling Stations, namely Dudmukha High School Centre, the election held in the other two Polling Stations remaining unchallenged. The allegations were that the returned candidate, respondent No.1, had adopted unfair means, such as, he had influenced the Presiding Officer who rejected some of his valid votes as invalid and accepted some invalid votes of the returned candidate as valid votes, that votes of some dead and absentee voter were cast in the election and that the Presiding Officer at first declared a result which showed him (appellant) the winner, but later on, submitted a different result to the Returning Officer and consequently he was defeated in the election. To be specific on this point, his allegation was that he had obtained 498 votes and the respondent had obtained 1100 votes, but in his report to the Returning Officer the Presiding Officer stated that the appellant got 444 votes and the respondent got 1135 voter.

(2.) The Tribunal after hearing the patties and considering the evidence adduced by them rejected all the allegations as baseless excepting the allegation as to the actual counting of votes by the Presiding-Officer. The Tribunal recounted the ballot-papers in presence of the patties. The Tribunal did not find any truth in the allegation that the appellant bed got 498 votes as against 1100 votes of the returned candidate, but found the numerical counting of the Presiding-officer correct. But from 444 votes of the appellant the Tribunal rejected one vote as invalid, and from 1135 votes of the returned candidate the Tribunal rejected 68 votes as invalid on the common ground of ''double marks". With such rejection of 69 votes the appellant's over-all total came to 2308 and that of the respondent was reduced to 2256. That is, the appellant got 52 votes more than the returned candidate.

(3.) The Tribunal, however, did not declare the appellant elected in spite of his majority of 52 votes, but declared the election held in this Polling Station 'void' and directed a fresh election there keeping undisturbed the results of the two other Polling Stations 10 that those result could be added to the result to be obtained from the fresh election in the disputed Polling Station for final determination of the question at to election of Chairman of the Union Parishad.