Sujit Narayan Prasad, J. - (1.) This writ petition is under Article 226 of the Constitution of India whereby and whereunder the decision taken by the Returning Officer dated 20th April, 2019 has been assailed by which the nomination made by the petitioner to contest the election as a candidate of 'All India Trinamool Congress' has been rejected.
(2.) It is the case of the petitioner that the date of notification of the 5th Phase of 17th Parliamentary Election of Ranchi was notified on 09.04.2019 and the date of nomination was fixed from 10.04.2019 to 18.04.2019, the timing of filing the nomination was from 11:00 a.m. to 03:00 p.m. The petitioner was issued the symbol of 'All India Trinamool Congress' for Ranchi Parliamentary Constituency 08 on 17.04.2019 at 10:00 p.m. as would be evident from Form A and B (Annexure-A). The petitioner has purchased nomination paper on 18.04.2019 and after duly filled it and prepared it for filing it on 18.04.2019, he reached the office of Returning Officer for filing his nomination on 18.04.2019 at 02:10 p.m. along with his Proposer Shri Snehanshu Sah and a learned lawyer, Shri Yadav, two supporters namely, Shri Dayanand Singh and Shri Bilesh Singh and the party President, Shri Ajay Singh. The petitioner while was entering in Room No.206, Ranchi Collectorate, Ranchi i.e., office of the Returning Officer for filing his nomination at 02:58 i.e., after he was issued the slip though he was allowed to enter the room but his Proposer was stopped from entering the Room No.206 and the petitioner was told that he should go inside and his Proposer will be sent later, since, the Form A and Form B were with his Proposer but as because he was not being allowed to enter in the Room, the Form A and B would not have been placed before the Returning Officer and in the meanwhile the nomination paper has been returned on the pretext that the time has already crossed 03:00 p.m. and accordingly it was not accepted, therefore, he has been denied to contest the parliamentary election of a National Party like 'All India Trinamool Congress' due to the arbitrary action of the Returning Officer, therefore, the same may be looked into by this Court in exercise of power conferred under Article 226 of the Constitution of India and in consequence thereof, the decision of not accepting the nomination form may be quashed and he may be allowed to contest the election by accepting the nomination form.
(3.) Dr. Ashok Kumar Singh, learned counsel appearing for the Election Commission has vehemently opposed the submission, ground and the reason of filing this writ petition mainly on the ground that the writ petition is not maintainable looking to the nature of dispute involved in this case since the election once notified by the President of India, the jurisdiction conferred to this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India will be barred in view of the provision of Section 329 (b) of the Constitution of India and therefore, the writ petition may be not entertained. He has also argued on merit showing therein that even on merit there is no case of the petitioner since he is with nomination form but without any Form A & B which is the mandatory requirement and therefore, his nomination paper has not been accepted due to time constraint since by that time it has already crossed 03:00 p.m. while he has placed the nomination paper before 03:00 p.m. but due to non-availability of Form A & B with him, his nomination paper has not been accepted and as such the Returning Officer, while taking such decision, has not committed illegality.;