1944 Present: Wijeyewardene J.

KARUNARATNE BANDA v. ALADIN.

IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION FOR A WRIT OF quo warranto. No. 592.

Village Committee elections-Allotting of colours to candidates-Mistake or. the part of presiding officer-Confusion caused in the minds of voters-Alleged acquiescence on part of respondent-Election declared void.

At an election for a Village Committee, on nomination day, the petitioner was allotted green as the colour of his ballot box and the respondent was given bellow as his colour.

On election day the presiding officer, acting on official records, decided that yellow should be considered the colour given to the petitioner and green the colour allotted to the respondent.

Petitioner protested but did not withdraw from the election.

Held, that the change in the colors had misled a large number of voters and had prevented them from registering their votes and that the election should be declared void.

Held, further, that petitioner's conduct on election day did ,pot amount to acquiescence in the proceedings and that, even if there had been acquiescence on his part, the Court should not uphold the elec