IMPORTANT POINT
Election disputes must be addressed through statutory remedies, and writ petitions are not maintainable when an alternative remedy exists under the relevant election laws.

JUDGMENT :

Arijit Banerjee, J.

1. This appeal is directed against a judgment and order dated September 27, 2023, passed by a learned Judge of our Court in WPA 16880 of 2023 being a writ petition filed by the respondent nos. 1 and 2 in this appeal namely Nimai Ray (in short ‘Nimai’) and Bibi Najira (in short ‘Najira’). The present appellants were the respondent nos. 1 and 2 in the writ petition. By the judgment and order impugned, the learned Judge rejected the decision of the State Election Commission not to recount the ballot papers in respect of the Panchayat Election in question and directed the Commission to recount the ballot papers which stood rejected on the ground of defect on the part of the Presiding Officer in not inscribing his signatures and not affixing the distinguishing rubber seal on the reverse of the ballot papers.

2. The respondents/writ petitioners approached the learned Single Judge with the following case:-

(a) They were the contesting candidates of All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) in the Debipur Gram Panchayat in the West Bengal Panchayat General Elections 2023. They contested the election from Debipur/VIII constituency of the Debipur Gram Panchayat. The seat numbers on which they contested were 8, and 9 respectively.

(b) The election took place on its scheduled date. i.e., July 8, 2023. It was a peaceful election held in free and fair manner.

(c) The total number of ballots used was 1093.

(d) The counting started at the scheduled time on July 11, 2023, in the presence of the writ petitioners and their agents. However, during the process of counting, disproportionate numbers of ballot papers being 758 and 752 respectively, were declared as invalid and the corresponding votes were cancelled.

(e) On enquiry, the writ petitioners came to know that the rejected ballot papers did not contain the seal and signature of the Presiding Officer and hence were discounted.

(f) The petitioners pleaded with the counting officials that since the vote was held peacefully and the true mandate of the electorate had been captured on the ballot papers, simply because of some laches or default on the part of the Presiding Officer, the concerned ballot papers should not be rejected. Such request was in vain.

(g) At the end of the counting it was found that the candidates who were declared winners in respect of the two concerned seats, won by a very narrow margin of only a few votes.

(h) It is not only in the interest of the petitioners but also for the sake of democratic principles that the issue should be probed into in detail by the intervention of the Constitutional Court under its all encompassing and extra ordinary writ jurisdiction preferably by some stoically neutral agency under the supervision of the Court.

3. With the aforesaid pleadings, the writ petitioner approached the learned Single Judge praying for the following reliefs:-

“(a) A writ of/in the nature of certiorari calling upon the Respondents and each of them to transmit the records of the case to the Hon’ble Court so that the Hon’ble Court may certify the same and do conscionable justice to the case by quashing the decisions arrived by the State Election Commission in respect of Debipur/VIII-8 & 9 Gram Panchayat seats in the Panchayat General Election 2023 particularly the result so announced.

(b) A writ in the nature of mandamus directing the state authority to conduct the audit of the ballot papers.

(c) A writ in the nature of mandamus directing the State Election Commission to order a recounting after taking into account of all ballot papers which are otherwise valid but for the absence of seal or signature of the presiding officer.

(d) A writ in the nature of mandamus directing the State Election Commission to order re-poll if necessary.”

4. When the writ petition was moved, by an order dated 19.07.2023, the learned Judge called for a report in the form of affidavit from the State Election Commission and the Panchayat Returning Officer apropos the allegations made in