- (1.) This Election Petition has been filed under Section 81 read with Section 100(i) C of the Representation of People Act, 1951 for declaring that the election of the respondent (Shri Babu Lal Marandi) to the Legislative Assembly of Jharkhand from 23, Ramgarh Assembly Constituency be held to be void.
(2.) The case of the Election Petitioner in brief as stated is that the Governor of Jharkhand called upon the electors of 23 Ramgarh Assembly Constituency to elect one member to the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly caused due to the death of its sitting member Mr. Sabbir Ahmad Khureshi alias Bhenra Singh. Accordingly, Sub-Divisional Officer of Ramgarh was appointed as the Returning Officer by the Election Commission of India and following dates were prescribed for holding the said election : (a) Date for filing nomination - 25-01-2001 to 31-01-2001 Nomination between 11.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. b) Date for scrutiny of nominations - 01-02-2001 3 (c) Date of withdrawal, if any, of nomination - 03-02-2001 (d) Date for polling, if necessary - 19-02-2001 (e) Date for counting of Votes - 23-02-2001 (f) Date for declaration of of the Result of the election - 23-02-2001
(3.) The petitioner being qualified to contest the said election filed his nomination on 31-1-2001 to the Returning Officer in his office. The respondent also filed his nomination paper to the Returning Officer on 31-1-2001. It is further claimed that the Returning Officer handed over a notice to the petitioner for filing information in a prescribed pro forma supported by an affidavit stating as to whether the petitioner was not disqualified to contest the election due to any conviction for committing any offence as required under Section 8 of Representation of the People Act, 1951. The prescribed pro forma and the form of affidavit were supplied to the petitioner by Returning Officer and the said information with affidavit was to file before 11 a.m. on 1-2-2001, which was the date fixed for scrutiny of the nomination. The scrutiny of the nomination took place on 1-2-2001 but the nomination of the petitioner was rejected by the Returning Officer. Polling of the Election took place on 19-2-2001, counting of the votes held on 23-2-2001 and on the same day, the respondent was declared elected to the Legislative Assembly of Jharkhand Assembly Constituency. After filing his nomination on 31-1-2001, the petitioner came back to his home at Ranchi and he decided to file the aforesaid information and the affidavit on 1-2-2001 at the time of scrutiny of the nomination, but due to ill luck, one of the relatives of the petitioner died at Ranchi at Midnight on 31-1-2001 and, therefore, the petitioner could not file the aforesaid information and affidavit. Due to non-availability of the information and the affidavit which were asked for, his nomination paper was rejected by the order, which reads as follows : "I have examined this nomination-paper in accordance with Section 36 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and decide as follows : (Vernacular matter omitted) It is further alleged that the Returning Officer had no jurisdiction to reject the nomination paper on the ground of non-filing the information and the affidavit. The failure to file information and affidavit in support thereof cannot be a ground for rejecting the nomination of the petitioner. The petitioner is fully qualified and he has not been convicted for committing any offence whatsoever as well as his nomination paper does not suffer from any defect or irregularity and as such the nomination paper was rejected illegally. It is further alleged that the nomination paper of respondent ought to have been rejected as the respondent's name is Babu Lal and his Surname is Marandi and he is recognized everywhere by this name Babulal Marandi alone and not by any other name or Surname, but the name of the respondent Babulal Marandi has not been enrolled as an elector in the electoral roll and as such the nomination paper of respondent suffers from a defect of substantial character which deserves to be rejected. Therefore, the election of the respondent is fit to be declared as void. ;