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HIGH COURT OF CALCUTTA
Sinha
AMULYA RATAN KARMAKAR - Appellant
Versus
THE COMMISSIONER OF BASIRHAT MUNICIPALITY - Respondent
Civil Revision 722 Of 1959
Decided On : MARCH 20, 1959
ELECTION - Electoral Roll - Preparation and Publication - Compliance with Statutory Requirements - Identification of Voters - Particulars to be Furnished - Mandatory or Directory Provisions - Interpretation and Application.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioners, rate-payers of the Basirhat Municipality, challenged the validity of the preliminary and final Electoral Rolls published by the Municipality, alleging non-compliance with the statutory requirements and rules for the preparation of the Rolls. The Electoral Rolls were found to contain numerous defects, including missing or incomplete information, such as the father's name, age, period of residence, and address of voters. The petitioners argued that these defects rendered the Rolls invalid and sought to prevent the upcoming general election from proceeding based on those Rolls.
Finding of the Court:
The Court held that the Electoral Rolls published by the Basirhat Municipality were not prepared in accordance with the law and did not constitute valid Electoral Rolls as contemplated by the Bengal Municipal Act and the rules. The Court found that the particulars provided in the Rolls were insufficient to identify the voters and to verify their qualifications, defeating the primary purpose of an Electoral Roll.
Issues: 1. Whether the Electoral Rolls published by the Basirhat Municipality complied with the statutory requirements and rules for their preparation. 2. Whether the particulars provided in the Electoral Rolls were sufficient to identify the voters and verify their qualifications. 3. Whether the defects in the Electoral Rolls rendered them invalid and prevented the upcoming general election from proceeding based on those Rolls.
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The Court emphasized the importance of compliance with statutory requirements and rules in the preparation of Electoral Rolls. It held that the provisions of the Bengal Municipal Act and the rules, which prescribed the manner and form in which the Electoral Rolls were to be prepared, were mandatory and not merely directory. 2. The Court analyzed the purpose of an Electoral Roll, which is to collect in one place the names of all persons qualified to be voters and to set out all the particulars necessary to identify them and to show how they are qualified to vote. The Court found that the Electoral Rolls in question failed to provide sufficient particulars to identify the voters and to verify their qualifications, rendering them inadequate for their intended purpose. 3. The Court concluded that the defects in the Electoral Rolls were not merely technical or unsubstantial, but went to the root of the matter by preventing the proper identification and verification of voters. The Court held that such defects rendered the Electoral Rolls invalid and prevented the upcoming general election from proceeding based on those Rolls.
Final Decision: The Court issued a Writ in the nature of Certiorari quashing the Electoral Rolls published by the Basirhat Municipality and a Writ in the nature of Mandamus directing the respondents not to give effect to the said Electoral Rolls. The Court ordered the respondents to draw up proper Electoral Rolls in conformity with the law and to take further steps for the election of Commissioners in accordance with the law.
( 1 ) THE petitioners are rate-payers of the Basirhat Municipality. The petitioner No. 2 is a sitting Commissioner and has also stood as a candidate for election as Commissioner of the said municipality at the next general election. The respondent No. 1 are the Commissioners of the Basirhat Municipality. The respondents Nos. 2 to 4 are members of the committee appointed under Section 21, of the Bengal Municipal Act, 1932 called the 'registering authority. ' Section 21 of the said Act lays down that a committee consisting of the chairman and two Commissioners to be appointed by the Commissioners at a meeting for this purpose, shall prepare and publish at the time and in the manner prescribed, an Electoral Roll showing the names of persons qualified to vote. Every person whose name appears in the final Electoral Roll published under this section, so long as such Roll remains in force, is entitled to vote at an election and no person whose name does not appear in such Roll can vote at an election. It is provided that when a Municipality has been divided into wards the Electoral Roll shall be divided into separate lists for each ward. The Electoral Roll as published remains in force till the publication of a fresh Electoral Roll. Finally, it is provided that the preliminary and final Electoral Rolls shall be printed and be made available for purchase by any inhabitant of a Municipality, at a reasonable price to be fixed by the Commissioners at a meeting. The word "prescribed" means as prescribed by rules framed under the Act. Section 44 of the Act gives power to the State Government to make rules for the purpose of election of commissioners, and to regulate and determine the preparation, publication and revision of the Electoral Roll. Rules have been framed by Government in exercise of the powers given by Section 44 of the Act; The election rules provide that the registering authority shall prepare in form A appended to the rules, a preliminary Electoral Roll for the Municipality containing the names of all persons qualified to vote under the said Act and after causing it to be printed shall, not less than 150 days before the day fixed for general election under Section 24 of the said Act, publish it. Under Rule 8 of the election rules, any person who objects to a name entered therein, or who claims that a name has been omitted, can make an application before the registering authority for rectification of the preliminary Electoral Roll. After these objections are dealt with, the final Electoral Roll is published. Under Section 529a of the said Act, any person aggrieved by any entry in or omission from, the final Electoral Roll published under Section 21 may, within 15 days from the date of publication of such roll, appeal to the District Magistrate, and if the District Magistrate on such appeal directs any modification or addition to be made in such Roll, the Roll shall be amended accordingly and the amendment so made shall be published in the same manner as the final Roll. I have already stated above that under Section 21 of the Act, the Electoral Roll shall be prepared and published "in the manner prescribed". I have also mentioned above that by the election rules the manner has been prescribed namely, that it must be in form A appended to the rules. A copy of form A is annexed to the petition and marked with letter "a". In the said form there are 9 columns, and the registering authority has to prepare the preliminary and final Electoral Roll by filling or causing to be filled, the said 9 columns. These columns are headed as Follows :
1) Serial No. 2) No. in assessment list 3) Name of voter 4) Father's name, or in the case of female voter, the husband's name 5) Age 6) Period of residence 7) Address 8) Particulars of qualification 9) Remarks
( 2 ) IN or about 25-6-1958, the Registering authority in this particular Municipality, published a preliminary Electoral Roll of the said Municipality. Objec
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