ANANDRAO SITARAM NAGMOTE AND ANOTHER Vs. S.P. MOHONI, COLLECTOR, AMRAVATI AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this writ petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution, the petitioners have prayed for a writ of certiorari to quash the appellate order passed by the Collector, Amravati, whereby the order passed by the Electoral Registration Officer was set aside.

(2.) The facts which have given rise to this writ petition are in a brief compass. The respondent No. 3 Daulatrao Laxmanrao Thakre, hereinafter referred to by his surname Thakre, is a medical practitioner residing at Warud, tahsil Morshi, district Amravati. He has some property at village Wathoda which is four miles away from Warud. Both Warud and Wathoda are included in the Morshi Assembly Constitutency. In the General Elections of 1962, he voted as a voter from Warud where he was registered as a voter. The electoral rolls for the General Elections are taken as the basis for the elections to Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis. In the elections to Zilla Parishads held in the year 1962, he got his name included in the electoral roll of the Rajura Constituency by claiming to be a resident of Wathoda. He contested as a candidate for the Zilla Parishad elections and was elected. That election was challenged by the petitioner No. 1 by an election petition filed before the Assistant Judge, Amravati, on the ground that Thakre, who was a resident of the municipal town of Warud, was not a resident of Wathoda and was not entitled to contest the election from the Rajura Constituency. After recording evidence, the Assistant Judge found, on facts, that Thakre was ordinarily a resident of Warud and not of Wathoda, but he dismissed the election petition on the ground that the electoral roll for the Assembly Constituency was binding and could not be challenged in an election petition. The petitioner No. 1 moved this Court by a writ petition in Special Civil Application No. 318 of 1963 decided on 1-10-1964. That petition was rejected on the ground that the electoral roll for the Assembly Constituency, on the basis of which the election to the Zilla Parishad was held, was conclusive and could not be challenged in an election petition.

(3.) At the commencement of the year 1966, revision of the general electoral rolls was taken in hand by the revenue authorities in accordance with section 21 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. Thakre gave a declaration, on solemn affirmation (Annexure 1), that he and his family were residing at house No. 306 at Warud on 1-1-1966. A provisional voters' list was prepared on the basis of the declarations and other information collected by the Electoral Registration Officer, and in the voters' list for ward No. 11 of Warud where Thakre resides, his name was shown at serial No. 106, and the names of the members of his family were shown at serial numbers 107 to 109. A notice in Form No. 5 under rule 10 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, was issued by the Electoral Registration Officer for inviting claims and objections to the provisional list. Thakre raised no objection to the entry of his name in the electoral roll for the Warud municipal town. The petitioners however filed an objection before the Electoral Registration Officer for claiming deletion of the name of Thakre from the electoral roll for the village Wathoda, because the name of Thakre was included in both the parts of the electoral roll of the Morshi Assembly Constituency by showing him as a resident of Warud as well as of Wathoda. The Electoral Registration Officer received oral and documentary evidence and on considering that evidence at great length, held by his order (Annexure 4) that Thakre was ordinarily a resident of Warud and was not a resident of Wathoda, and therefore, his name appearing in the voters' list of the village Wathoda should be deleted. Being aggrieved by that order, Thakre appealed to the Collector, Amravati, by his memorandum of appeal (Annexure 6). The appeal was allowed by the Collector, who set aside the order of the Electoral Registration Officer, and restored the name of Thakre in the voters' list of the village Wathoda.