( 1 ) THIS is an application under Article 227 of the Constitution. It raises a short but interesting question of election law and procedure. The short point is whether under the Representation of the People Act, 1951 the Returning Officer is either a necessary or a proper party to an election petition.

( 2 ) THE order against which this Rule was directed was an order of the Election Tribunal dismissing the application of the present petitioner, Sri Dwijendra Lal Sen Gupta, under Order 1 Rule 10 of the Code of Civil Procedure read with Section 90 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, for adding the Returning Officer Sri Ajita Kanjan Mukherjee as a respondent and for issuing a notice on him as such.

( 3 ) THE Election Tribunal relied on (i) the Surat Municipality Case, 2 Doabia's Election Cases, 340 and (2) Abdul Quadir Siddiqui v. Abul Hasan Natique, 1 Doabia's Election Cases 324 and dismissed the application for adding the Returning Officer as a party to the election petition. The two cases on which the election tribunal relied are not relevant for the decision and do not help in deciding the point raised. The first case on which the tribunal relied