IMPORTANT POINT
Where High Court had jurisdiction to entertain writ but it declined to exercise that jurisdiction since alternative remedy was available then its direction to Tribunal or Court to ignore question of limitation while directing petitioner to file case before Tribunal or Court within specified period suffers no illegality.

ORDER

The only question raised in this case is: whether the direction issued by the High Court in the impugned order to file the Election Petition within three weeks from the date of the disposal of the writ petition and after filing of the petition to dispose of the same, without going into the question of limitation is valid in law? The High Court of Andhra Pradesh in the impugned order dated June 26, 1995 in Writ Petition No. 11106 of 1995 and batch observed as followed :

"We are not inclined to go into the questions raised in this Writ Petition. The appropriate form is the Election Tribunal. It is open to the petitioners to file an election petition within three weeks from today and if such a petition is filed, the same shall be entertained by the Election Tribunal without going into the question of limitation and dispose it of in accordance with law as expeditiously as possible, in any event not later than four months from the date of filing of the Petition. No costs."

2. Shri B. Nageshwara Rao, counsel for the petitioner placing reliance on Rule 3 of the A.P. Panchayat Raj (Election Tribunal) in respect of Gram Panchayats and Mandal Parishads and Zila Parishad Rules, 1995 (for short, the Rules ) contended that the rules contemplate filing of an Election Petition within 30 days from the date of declaration of the result of the election. It reads as under:

"3(1) The election petition shall be presented within thirty days from the date of the declaration of the result of the election.

Explanation :-If the Court of the Subordinate Judge or the District Munsiff, as the case may be, or the Officer of the Officer of the Government who is the Election Tribunal is closed on the last day of the thirty days aforesaid, the petition may be presented to the Election Tribunal on the next day afterwards on which such Court or Tribunal is open.

(ii) The petition shall contain a statement in concise form, the material facts on which the petitioner relies and the particulars of any corrupt practices which he alleges and shall, where necessary, be divided into paragraphs numbered consecutively. It shall be signed by the petitioner and verified in the manner prescribed for the verification of pleadings in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908."

3. The remedy is statutory remedy and limitation is one of the candidates to entertain election petition. By judicial order the limitation cannot be nullified. In support thereof, he placed reliance on the judgment of this Court in Union of India & Anr. v. Kirloskar Pneumatic Co. Ltd.1. We find no force in his contention. It is not his case that the High Court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the writ petition against the election of a Sarpanch and declaration of the result of the election of a Sarpanch, etc. The High Court exercising its power under Article 226 of the Constitution declined to interfere in the election disputes since alternative remedy of filing election petition and adjudication has been provided in the relevant statutory rules. Far from saying that the High Court has no jurisdiction, High Court exercised self restraint in exercise of the power under Article 226 and directed the parties to avail of alternative remedy. In this case, admittedly, the elections of Sarpanch was held and result was declared on June 24, 1995 and the writ petition was filed on June 25, 1995. Power of the Government on the process of electoral rolls was challenged in a batch of writ petitions. The writ petition in question is also one of such writ petitions. Under the circumstances, the High Court thought it expedient that since elections were already held, the disputed questions of facts would be canvassed in an election petition as provided in Rule 3 of the Rules, the High Court rightly declined to investigate into disputed question of facts and refused to go into the question relegating the parties to pursue the remedy of election dispute. In view of this the High Court has rightly directed filing of the election pet