Hemant Gupta, J. - (1.) THE petitioner is an elected candidate from Ward No. 15 of Municipal Council, Mohali. The said election of the petitioner is subject matter of Election Petition filed by one Kulwant Singh under Section 76 of the Punjab State Election Commission Act, 1994, which is pending before the respondent.
(2.) ON 17.4.2007, an application was filed by Shri Kulwant Singh for summoning the election record for Ward No. 15. On the said date the Election Petition was posted for hearing for the first time before the respondent. The said application was allowed on 17.4.2007 itself. It is the case of the petitioner that the copy of the aforesaid order was not supplied to the petitioner, but on 18.4.2007, the newspapers carried reports that the Election Tribunal, has ordered recount of votes and such recount would be done on 24.4.2007. The petitioner filed a Writ Petition dated 21.4.2007 before this Court on 23.4.2007, wherein the petitioner pleaded as under: ...The situation appears to have been created due to the change in the Government in the State of Punjab, and apparently all out efforts are being made to deny the petitioner any opportunity to even challenge the order of recount, which is wholly perverse and illegal. The blatant attempt to obstruct the administration of justice and to hinder the basic right of the petitioner to pursue his legal remedy against the order of recount amounts to a criminal contempt on the part of the respondents, for which offence, appropriate proceedings deserve to be launched by this Hon'ble Court against them. xxx xxx xxx That entire sequence of events as narrated in the petition, coupled with the colourable exercise of power as referred to above, makes it amply clear that a deliberate attempt is being made to withhold the order dated 17.4.2007 from the petitioner so that the petitioner is made to face a fait accompli and is not in a position to challenge the recount despite the order of recount being wholly perverse and not capable of withstanding judicial scrutiny for even a moment. The actions of the respondents in attempting to obstruct the administration of justice amounts to criminal contempt on their part for which they deserve to be proceeded against by this Court and suitably punished.
(3.) THE said writ petition was withdrawn on 24.4.2007 as the writ petition was filed on the basis of the press reports but there was no order of recount.;