JUDGMENT:

1. Heard.

2. Rule. Rule returnable forthwith. With consent of parties, the petitions are heard finally.

3. Both the writ petitions involve common issues, hence taken up together for hearing and facts are taken from Writ Petition No.3884 of 2023.

4. By the present petition, the petitioners are taking exception to the orders passed by Respondent No.2 – The District Election Officer, APMC and District Deputy Registrar, Co-operative Societies, Aurangabad, rejecting the application filed by the petitioners under Rule 7(5) of the Maharashtra Agricultural Produce Market Committee (Election to Committee) Rules, 2017 and not including the names of the petitioners in the final voters list of the APMC Gangapur, Taluka – Gangapur, District – Aurangabad.

5. The facts in brief leading to the filing of the petitions can be summarized as under.

6. The petitioners are members of the Vividh Karyakari Seva Sahakari Sanstha Ltd. Gajgaon, Taluka – Gangapur, District – Aurangabad (hereinafter referred as ‘said society’). The election programme of the said society was declared on 09.02.2023. As per the said programme the date of voting, counting and declaration of election result was on 28.03.2023. The petitioners are elected as managing committee members of the said society. The petitioners being elected member of the said society are qualified to participate in the elections of APMC Gangapur as per Section 13(1) of the Maharashtra Agriculture produce Market Committee (Development and Regulation) Act, 1963 read with rule 5 and 6 of the Maharashtra Agricultural Produce Market Committee (Election to Committee) Rules, 2017.

7. Respondent No.2 published election programme on 27.03.2023 for election of the APMC Gangapur. As per the said programme the date of submission of nomination form was from 27.03.2023 to 03.04.2023. The petitioners made an application on 29.03.2023 to Respondent No.2, requesting the names of the petitioners be included in the voters list of the APMC. Respondent No.2 rejected the application of the petitioners by order dated 31.03.2023 for the reason that the application was not within stipulated period as provided in Rule 7(5) of the Election Rules 2017. The petitioners have challenged the order dated 31.03.2023 passed by respondent no.2 in the present writ petitions.

8. The petitioners contend that they are eligible to vote for the APMC elections and since they were elected on 28.03.2023, the application, which was filed on 29.03.2023, ought to have been accepted by respondent no.2. The learned counsel relied upon the following Judgments passed by this court:-

“1] Writ Petition No.10493 of 2016 and 10494 of 2016, dated 20.10.2016 (Satish Ramchandra Rajput and others Vs. District Deputy Registrar and others reported in 2016 (10) CPMH 35

2] Writ Petition No.11517 of 2016 and 11803 of 2016, dated 29.11.2016 (Vividh Karyakari SevaSahkari Sanstha Ltd. and another Vs. The State of Maharashtra and others)

3] Writ Petition No.9197 of 2015 with connected petitions, dated 20.08.2016 (Subhash Rabhaji Barde and others Vs. The State of Maharashtra and others)

4] Sangali Urban Co-operative Bank Vs. The State of Maharashtra and others, 2015 (6) ALL MR 629

5] Adivasi Seva Sahkari Sanstha, Halda Vs. Hon’ble Collector, Gondia and another, 2011 (5) Mh.L.J. 745

In the above quoted Judgments, a similar provision, to Rule 7(5) of the Election Rules 2017, i.e. Rule 36 (Rule 36 is now deleted) of the Maharashtra Agricultural Produce Marketing (Development and Regulation) Rules, 1967 is interpreted by this court. Relying upon the above Judgments the petitioner contend that the petitioners names should be included in the final voters list even after the period stipulated contemplated in Rule 7(5) of the Election Rules 2017 and earlier Rule 36 (15) of the APMC Rules 1967. The learned counsel submits that in the Judgments cited above, the courts have allowed the names of the candidates elected to member Societies and village panchayats to be included in the vo