- (1.) THE defect pointed out by the Stamp Reporter, is ignored. Heard counsel for the parties.
(2.) THE petitioner is seeking a direction upon the respondent State Election Commission to extend the date of completion of exercise of election process under the powers conferred under section 540 of the Jharkhand Municipal Act, 2011 . The grievance of the present petitioner is that his name does not figure in the electoral roll prepared for Ward No. 18 of Ranchi Municipal Corporation, though his name appears in the electoral roll of Parliamentary and State Legislative Election. According to the learned counsel for the petitioner, petitioner is not being allowed to contest the municipal election as a candidate from the ward where he resides as his name does not appear in the electoral roll of that ward. It further appears from the submission of either of the parties that election for the municipal corporation of the city of Ranchi and other places have been notified by the State Government vide its notification no. 125 dated 6th of March 2013.
(3.) THE aforesaid facts therefore indicate that the election process has been set rolling by issuance of the notification. Counsel for the respondent -State Election Commission has relied upon a judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Anugrah Narain Singh and another vs. State of U.P. And others reported in (1996) 6 Supreme Court Cases 303 and submits that under the provisions of Article 243 -ZG, the High Court should not entertain the writ petition challenging the electoral process in exercise of its power under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. In support of the aforesaid contention, he refers paragraph -14 of the said judgment which is quoted hereunder: "14. There are several reasons why these arguments of the writ petitioners should not have been upheld. The High Court overlooked the fact that no municipal election had been held in the State for nearly ten years and the dates of the elections were fixed under the direction given by the High Court in another case. Importance of holding elections at regular intervals for panchayats, municipal bodies or legislatures cannot be overemphasised. If holding of elections is allowed to be stalled on the complaint of a few individuals, then grave injustice will be done to crores of other voters who have a right to elect their representative s to the local bodies. As a result of the order of the High Court, elections that were going to be held to the local bodies after a long lapse of nearly ten years were postponed indefinitely. It was pointed out by this Court in the case of Lakshmi Charan Sen v. A.K.M. Hassan Uzzaman, that: "...the fact that certain claims and objections are not finally disposed of, even assuming that they are filled in accordance with law, cannot arrest the process of election to the legislature. The election has to be held on the basis of the electoral roll which is in force on the last date for making nominations". ;