The court upheld the exclusion of petitioners from the voters list for failing to meet statutory eligibility requirements, emphasizing limited judicial intervention in ongoing election processes.

ORDER :

ANIRUDDHA P. MAYEE, J.

1. The present Special Civil Applications are filed praying for the following reliefs :-

“(A) Be pleased to issue a writ of mandamus or certiorari or a writ in the nature of certiorari or mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction and be pleased to quash and set aside the impugned order dated 19.12.2024 passed by the respondent No.2 at Annexure-A to the present petition;

(B) Be pleased to issue a writ of mandamus or certiorari or a writ in the nature of mandamus or certiorari or any other appropriate writ, order or direction and be pleased to declare the order of the respondent No.2 excluding the petitioner’s name from the voters list of Trader’s constituency of the elections of A.P.M.C. Borsad, ultra-vires to provisions of sec.11(1)(ii) of the act;

(C) Pending admission and final disposal of the present petition, be pleased to stay the implementation, operation and execution of the impugned dated 19.12.2024 passed by the respondent No.2;

(D) Pending admission and final disposal of the present petition, be pleased to direct the respondent no.2 to provisionally include the name of the petitioner in the Revised Draft voter’s list and subsequently final voters list of agriculturist’s constituency for the elections of Borsad APMC.

(E) Be pleased to pass such other and further orders as may be deemed fit and proper.”

2. The brief facts of the petitions are as follows:-

2.1 The elections for the Agricultural Produce Market Committee, Borsad were scheduled to be held on or before 20.06.2024 as the term of the previous body was to expire. Upon the expiration of the term, the respondent No.1 appointed respondent No.3 as the administrator. Following an order issued by this Hon'ble Court in a writ petition filed by some members of the superseded committee, the elections for the market committee were declared. The petitioners were not parties to any such petition. On 12.11.2024, respondent No. 1 declared the election programme under Rule 4 of the Gujarat Agricultural Produce Market Rules, 1965. In the exercise of his powers, respondent No. 1 appointed respondent No.2 as the authorized officer and respondent No. 3 as the Election Officer to conduct the elections.

2.2 The petitioners societies, possessing all the requisite qualifications, had its names included in the preliminary voters list by respondent No. 3 while preparing the list. In doing so, respondent No. 2 called for all the accounts and details of the petitioners societies and after verifying the same, entered the name of the petitioners societies in the voters list. The provisional list of voters was published on 30.11.2024.

2.3 Respondent no. 4, Ashokkumar Jashwantsinh Mahida raised objections dated 13.12.2024 against the inclusion of the members of the managing committee of the petitioner society in the voters list of the agriculturist's constituency. The essence of the objections raised by respondent No. 4 is that the petitioner society has not dispensed agricultural credit in the years 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023- 24, and 2024-25, and has only been engaged in recovery activities of previously dispensed finance. The petitioner society last dispensed agricultural credit in the year 2020 and has not engaged in any recovery of its finances from its members thereafter.

2.4 The petitioners were asked by respondent No.2 to remain present on 18.12.2024 to answer the objections raised by respondent No. 4. The petitioners submitted their reply to the objections along with documentary proofs. In their reply, the petitioners stated that the petitioner societies have disbursed finance under the three-tier co-operative credit structure. Additionally, it was submitted that the petitio