Back
2025 Supreme(Online)(Ker) 51711
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
P.V. Kunhikrishnan, J
AHAMMED BASHEER KS – Appellant
Versus
STATE OF KERALA – Respondent
WP(C) NO. 34387 OF 2025
For the Appellants/Petitioners: P.A. Mohammed Shah, Renoy Vincent, Shahir Showkath Ali, Chelson Chembarathy, Abee Shejirik, Fasla N.K, Nanda Surendran, Sahal Shajahan, Aquin Kuruvilla Tom, M.N. Mohammed Hussain, Jithin Alexander Sunny, Nafia Shahala C.K, Ayisha Riswana
For the Respondents: Deepu Lal Mohan, M.Sasindran, Deepa K R
The court upheld the authority of the Delimitation Commission to correct errors in the final delimitation map under the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, 1994.
Headnote:This writ petition was filed seeking orders to include the petitioners' names in the Final Voter List and contest the legality of the delimitation alteration. The court identified the erroneous exclusion of several voters arising from the delimitation commission’s notification. The court highlighted the legal framework under the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, specifically sections 10 and 11 regarding delimitation and correction authority. The court concluded that the Delimitation Commission acted within its powers to correct a clerical error, leading to the dismissal of the petition as meritless.
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. relief sought for voter inclusion (Para 2) |
| 2. arguments on delimitation error (Para 3) |
| 3. court's rationale on correction authority (Para 4 , 5 , 6) |
JUDGMENT
This writ petition is filed seeking the following reliefs:
“i. Issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order, or direction, commanding the Respondent No.6, Electoral Registration Officer, to include the names of the Petitioners and other aggrieved voters in the Final Voter List of Ward No.6 so as to safeguard their valuable right to vote in the impending elections.
ii. Issue a writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction commanding the Respondent No.6, Electoral Registration Officer, to forthwith consider and pass orders on the Exhibit P8 and Exhibit P9 applications dated 15.09.2025 submitted by the Petitioners under Section 24 of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 read with Rule 25 of the Kerala Panchayat Raj (Registration of Electors) Rules, 1994 within a time-bound period as may be fixed by this Hon’ble Court;
iii. Issue a writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction commanding the Respondent No.6 Electoral Registration Officer to implement the decisions taken on Exhibit P8 and Exhibit P9 applications dated 15.09.2025 and accordingly correct and revise the Final Voter List of the Respondent No.7 Pallikkara Grama Panchayat.
iv. Declare that the alteration of the delimitation map of Ward No.6, as published on the official website of the Respondent No.4 Delimitation Commission subsequent to the Exhibit P2 Final Delimitation Notification dated 15.05.2025, and not in accordance with the boundaries finalised under the said Notification, is illegal, arbitrary, ultra vires Section 11 of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 , and without authority of law;
v. Issue a writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction commanding the Respondent No.4 Delimitation Commission to retain and enforce the boundaries of Ward No.6 strictly in accordance with the Exhibit P2 Final Delimitation Notification dated 15.05.2025, without any alteration or substitution in violation to procedure established by law;vi. To dispense off with translation of vernacular documents to English;vii. Issue such other writ, order or direction as this Hon’ble Court may deem just, fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case, in the interest of justice;”[SIC]
2. This Writ Petition is filed by the petitioners aggrieved by their wrongful exclusion from the Final Voter List of Ward No.6 (Arawat) of the 7th respondent, Pallikkara Grama Panchayat. According to the petitioners, they are permanent residents within the territorial limits as demarcated in Ext.P2 Final Delimitation Notification dated 15.05.2025 and Ext.P3 map published by the 4th respondent Delimitation Commission in its official website. It is submitted that the 4th respondent Delimitation Commission, exercising powers under Section 10 of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 (for short ‘Act 1994’), had conclusively fixed the boundaries of Ward No.6 vide Ext.P2 notification. However, in the Final Voter List published by the 3rd respondent dated 02.09.2025, the names of petitioner Nos. 1 and 2 and several other similarly situated voters from nearly 120 houses situated on the northern side of the Bekal–Periyattadukkam road, though falling squarely within Ward No.6 as per Ext.P2 Final Delimitation Notification and Ext.P3 map, were arbitrarily shifted to Ward No.4, thereby disenfranchising them from their own ward. It is also submitted that, petitioner Nos.3 and 4, along with other residents of 19 houses comprising 96 voters of Meethal Mouwval area, whose houses are also indisputably within the territorial limits of Ward No.6, were never included in Ward No.6 either in Ext.P4 Draft Voter List dated 23.07.2025 or in the Final Voter List. Instead, they were wrongly shown throughout as voters of Ward No.4, despite their undisputed residence in Ward No.6. The main pra
