The High Court will not interfere with election processes if an alternative remedy exists under electoral statutes.

ORAL JUDGMENT

The present Special Civil Application is filed praying for the following reliefs:-

“8(A) 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 quash and set aside the impugned order dated 06.05.2022 passed by the respondent no.2 — Annexure-A;

and further be pleased to delete the names of the respondent nos.3 and it’s managing committee members from the final list of voters of Agricultural Produce Market Committee, Vadgam;

(B) Be pleased to issue a writ of certiorari or a writ in the nature of mandamus or certiorari or any other appropriate writ, order or direction and be pleased to restrain the members of respondent no.3 society from participating in the election of Agriculture Produce Market committee, Vadgam in all and any manner;

(C) Pending admission and final disposal of the present petition, be pleased to stay the implementation, operation and execution of the impugned order dated 06.05.2022 passed by the respondent no.2;”

2. The factual matrix in the present case is as follows:

2.1 The petitioner is a voter and is vitally interested in ensuring that only eligible voters are included in the voters list for the elections to be held for the Agriculture Produce Market Committee [“APMC” for short], Vadgam. Since the petitioner is a valid voter, he is eligible to object against wrongful inclusion of any ineligible voter in the voters list.

2.2 That the elections to the APMC, Vadgam was declared by the respondent No.1 on 14.3.2022. In terms of the election programme, the preliminary voters list was to be published on 28.3.2022, the provisional voters list was to be published on

14.4.2022 and the final voters list was to be published on 26.4.2022. The election was scheduled to be held on 10.6.2022. The election programme came to be published in the daily newspaper “Rakhewal” having very less circulation on

16.3.2022.

2.3 It is stated that the respondent No.3 society was a primary agriculture society registered in the market area. The registration of the respondent No.3 society came to be cancelled by the competent authority. Thus, the respondent No.3 society ceased to be a registered cooperative society on 19.3.2022 and lost its capacity for inclusion of its name in the voters list. The respondent No.2, at the time of issuance of preliminary voters list, did not include the names of the members of the respondent No.3 society due to cancellation of its registration. That in the revised draft list, which came to be published on 14.4.2022, the respondent No.3 society’s name was also not included therein.

2.4 The respondent No.3 society challenged the said order dated 19.3.2022 cancelling its registration by way of filing Special Civil Application No.6806 of 2022 and the said writ petition came to be partly allowed by observing that, if any application is made by the respondent No.3 for inclusion of its name in the voters list, the same shall be decided in accordance with law. That the respondent No.2 authority, upon receipt of application by the respondent No.3 society and objections of the petitioner, fixed hearing on 4.5.2022 and upon considering oral as well as written submissions made by the parties, passed the impugned order dated 6.5.2022 including respondent No.3 society’s name in the voters list.

Aggrieved, the petitioner has preferred the present writ petition.

3. Mr. C.P.Champaneri, learned advocate for the petitioner, submits that the respondent No.2 has passed the impugned order without assigning any reasons. He submits that the respondent No.2 did not have any authority to entertain any application for incl