- (1.) In all these writ petitions the petitioners have challenged the elections of the Chairpersons of the Village Panchayats, of the respective village, notified by the State Election Commission, U.P. on 16th September, 2010, and for which the dates have been notified for nominations between 23rd September to 6th October, 2010 and polling dates between 11th October to 25th October, 2010. The petitioners have made prayers relating to the validity of elections, and have prayed for staying the elections on variety of grounds, namely non-issuance or cancellation of their caste certificates; revision of the electoral rolls by adding or deleting their names on the eve of the elections; rejection of nomination papers on account of incomplete forms or mistakes; allotment of symbols etc. In some writ petitions the petitioners have challenged the place, residence and castes of their opponents, resulting in improper acceptance of their nomination papers. The elections of Chairpersons of the Village Panchayats are provided under Articles 243-C and 243-C, to be held under Article 243-E of the Constitution of India in Part IX inserted by the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992, every five years. The last elections were held in the year 2005. The State Election Commission has issued Notification No. 4169/Ra.Ni.Aa.Anu.-4/2010 on 16th September, 2010 for holding elections. The notification provides for the proposed dates for election of the members of the Gram Panchayats and Chairpersons except in the district of Kanshi Ram Nagar, Etah and in the Gram Panchayats, where the unexpired period of the Gram Panchayats, is more than six months.
(2.) The notification provides for elections in four rounds. The dates of nominations in these four rounds are provided to be 23rd September, 2010; 26th September, 2010, 30th September, 2010 and 4th October, 2010 respectively. The notification also gives the date and time of the scrutiny of nomination papers, withdrawal of nominations and the allotment of symbols. The polling in four rounds are to be held on 11th October, 2010, 14th October, 2010, 20th October, 2010 and 25th October, 2010 respectively. The counting of votes of all the four rounds of elections is scheduled on 28th October, 2010. The English translation of the notification is quoted as below: Uttar Pradesh Shasan Panchayati Raj Anubhag-1 ---- The Governor is pleased to order the publication of the following English translation of Government Notification No. 2747/33-1-2010-255/2002TC-2 dated 16 September, 2010 for general information. Notification No. 2747/33-1/2010-255/2002 TC-2 Lucknow: Dated: 16 September, 2010 In exercise of the powers under Clause (1) of Article 243-K of the Constitution and sub-section (3) of section 12-BB of the United Provinces Panchayat Raj Act, 1947 (U.P. Act No. 26 of 1947) and sub-section (3) of section 264-B of Uttar Pradesh Kshetra Panchayat and Zila Panchayat Act, 1961 (U.P. Act No. 33 of 1961) the Governor, in consultation with the State Election Commission, is pleased to appoint September 23, 2010 to October 30, 2010, as the dates for the general election 2010 to the offices of Gram Pradhan and Members of gram Panchayats, Members of Kshetra Panchayats and Members of Zila Panchayats in the State, (excluding Districts of Etah and Kanshiram Nagar). By the order of the Governor, (R.K. Sharma) Pramukh Sachiv In N.P. Ponnuswami v. Returning Officer Namakkal Constituency, 1952 AIR(SC) 64; Mohinder Singh Gill v. Chief Election Commissioner, 1978 AIR(SC) 851; Lakshmi Charan Sen v. A.K.H. Hassan Uzzaman, 1985 4 SCC 689; Election Commission of India v. Shivaji, 1988 AIR(SC) 61; State of U.P. v. Pradhan Sangh Kshetra Samiti, 1995 Supp2 SCC 305; Ram Phal Kundu v. Kamal Sharma, 2004 2 SCC 759; and Manda Jaganath v. K.S. Rathnam, 2004 7 SCC 492, the Supreme Court has held that once the election process starts, the Courts should not interfere on any of the grounds, which may be taken to challenge the elections by election petition, under the relevant statutes.
(3.) The right to contest the election is statutory right. It is not a fundamental right to enable the Court to interfere to protect these rights on any material irregularity, when the process of elections has started. The elections have been defined to mean every act taken by the competent authority, after publication of the election notification. Article 243-O(b) places a bar on the Courts to interfere in the election process once elections have been notified. Article 243-O is quoted as below:-- 243-O. Bar to interference by Courts in electoral matters.- Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution- (a) the validity of any law relating to the delimitation of constituencies or the allotment of seats to such constituencies made or purporting to be made under Article 243-K, shall not be called in question in any Court; (b) no election to any Panchayat shall be called in question except by an election petition presented to such authority and in such manner as is provided for by or under any Law made by the Legislature of a State. Section 12-C of the U.P. Panchayat Raj Act, 1947 provides for application to question the elections. The election of a person as Pradhan or Member of Gram Panchayat including election of person appointed as Panch of Nyay Panchayat can be called into question on an application presented before such authority on such time and in such manner as may be prescribed on the grounds as follows: (a) the election has not been a free election by reason that the corrupt practice of bribery or undue influence has extensively prevailed at the election, or (b) that the result of the election has been materially affected- (i) by the improper acceptance or rejection of any nomination or: (ii) by gross failure to comply with the provisions of this Act or the rules framed thereunder. Sub-section (2) gives illustration of corrupt practices of bribery or undue influence in the elections.;