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2010 Supreme(P&H) 52
PUNJAB & HARYANA HIGH COURT
Rakesh Kumar Jain, J.
Kuldip Singh Panch And Others
Versus
Kulwinder Kaur And Others
First Appeal Order No. 5867 of 2009,
Decided On : JANUARY 6, 2010
The main legal point established is that in cases where the post is reserved for a specific category, the election proceedings must adhere to the reservation criteria, and any deviation from it renders the proceedings illegal.
Headnote:
Elections - Gram Panchayat - The Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, Section 12
Fact of the Case:
Elections were held for the Gram Panchayat Chet Singh Wala, and the post of Sarpanch was reserved for Scheduled Castes (Women) in accordance with Section 12 of The Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994. An election petition was filed to challenge the election of the Sarpanch.
Finding of the Court:
The Election Tribunal set aside the election of the Sarpanch but did not declare the appellant as elected. The process of the election for the post of Sarpanch reserved for Scheduled Caste (Women) was ordered to be initiated in accordance with the law.
Issues: The main issue was whether the appellant should have been declared elected after setting aside the election of the Sarpanch.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that in the given facts and circumstances, the appellant could not have been declared as the elected Sarpanch, as the proceedings held for the election were illegal due to the reservation of the post for Scheduled Caste (Women).
Final Decision: The appeal was dismissed, and the impugned order passed by the Election Tribunal was upheld.
Rakesh Kumar Jain, J.
1. (Oral)- Elections forthe Gram Panchayat Chet Singh Wala, Block Jandiala Guru, District Amritsar, were held on 26.5.2008 for the post of five panches in which Kuldip Singh, Balkar Singh and Lakhwinder Singh were elected.
2. In terms of Section 12 of The Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 (for short, the Act), by way of notification dated 1 5.6.2008. post of Sarpanch of Gram Panchayat Chet Singh Wala was reserved for Scheduled Castes (Women). Kewal Singh, Superintendent Block Samiti Jandiala Guru was appointed as Presiding Officer for conducting the election of the office of Sarpanch of Gram Panchayat Chet Singh Wala for which he issued a notice to all the panches for a meeting fixed for 30.7.2008. Allegedly in the said meeting, all the five panches had participated. Sukhwinder Kaur proposed the name of Kulwinder Kaur, but there was no one to second her. Thereafter, Lakhwinder Singh proposed the name of Kuldip Singh which was seconded by "Balkar Singh and it is alleged that he was declared Sarpanch, but later on, underthe influence of a local M.L.A, Kulwinder Kaur was declared as Sarpanch in the alleged proceedings dated 04.8.2008. Thus, three male panches namely, Kuldip Singh, Balkar Singh and Lakhwinder Singh filed an election petition under Section 76 of the Punjab State Election Commission Act, 1994 (for short the Act of 1994) and Rules 50 and 51 of the Punjab Panchayati Raj Election Rules, 1994 (for short the Rules), assailing the election of Kulwinder Kaur, to the post of Sarpanch and also for declaring Kuldip Singh as Sarpanch instead.
3. The learned Election Tribunal vide its order dated 18.8.2009, partly allowed the petition by setting aside the election of Kulwnder Kaur and rejecting the prayer of the appellants muchless Kuldip Singh to declare him elected for the office of Sarpanch. It was rather observed that process of the election for the post of Sarpanch reserved for Scheduled Caste (Women) shall be initiated in accordance with law.
4. Aggrieved against the order dated 18.8.2009 whereby Kuldip Singh has not been declared elected and initiation of process of election for the post of Sarpanch Scheduled Castes (Women) has been ordered, the present appeal has been filed in which it has been, inter-alia, argued by the learned counsel for the appellants that once election of Kulwinder Kaur has been set aside, as a necessary corollary, Kuldip Singh (Appellant no.l) should have been declared elected and the election petition should have been allowed in toto. He further submits that in case, the learned Tribunal has found that the election of Kuldip Singh (appellant No. 1) was not in accordance with law, the only remedy for him was to file an election petition for setting aside his election and since there is no election petition, the election held on 30.7.2008 cannot be ignored or could be held to be illegal.
5. I have heard learned counsel for the appellants and have perused the record. Undisputedly, the office of Sarpanch can be reserved in terms of Section 12 of the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, which reads as under :-
6. Reservation of seats for the office of Sarpanch
(1) Offices of Sarpanch of Gram Panchayats in the district shall be reserved for Scheduled Castes and the number of such offices shall bear, as nearly as may, the same proportion to the total number of offices of Sarpanches in the district as the population of Scheduled Castes in the district bears to the total population of the district. (Provided that not less than one-third of the total number of offices of Sarpanch of Gram Panchayats in the district shall be reserved under sub-section (1) shall be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes) (Substituted vide Punjab Act 9 of 1998 w.e.f. 1.10.1997)
(2) Not less than one-third of the total number of offices of Sarpanches in the district shall be reserved for women including such offices, reserved for women belonging to Scheduled Castes under subsection (1).
(3)
