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