JUDGMENT
D.S. Sinha, C.J.
1. Heard Mr. Tushar Mehta, learned Counsel appearing for Mr. Sunil Joshi, the Advocate on record representing the petitioner, at length and in detail.
2. The order dated 20th February, 2002, passed by the learned Civil Judge (Junior Division), Halol, in Election Petition No. 3 of 2002, is under challenge in this Special Civil Application under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution bf India.
3. By the impugned order Election Petition filed by the petitioner under Sub-section (1) of Section 31 of the Gujarat Panchayats Act, 1993, hereinafter called ‘the Act’, questioning the election of Mr. Rameshbhai Bhulabhai Nayak, the respondent No. 1, as a member of the Panchayat, has been dismissed as barred by time.
4. Sub-section (1) of Section 31 of the Act reads thus :
“31. Determination of validity of election, inquiry by Judge and procedure :-
(1) If the validity of any election of a member of a Panchayat is brought in question by any person contesting the election or by any person qualified to vote at the election to which such question relates, such person may, at any time within fifteen days after the date of the declaration of the results of the election, present an election petition to the Civil Judge (Junior Division), and if there he no Civil Judge (Junior Division) then to the Civil Judge (Senior Division), (hereinafter referred to as “the Judge”) having ordinary jurisdiction in the area within which the election has been or should have been held, for the determination of such question.”
5. It is to be noticed that under Sub-section (1) of Section 31 of the Act, an Election Petition can be presented within fifteen days after the date of declaration of results of the election. Admittedly, in the instant case, such a declaration took place on 26th December, 2001, and the Election Petition was filed on 15th January, 2002. Thus, obviously, the Election Petition, having been instituted beyond fifteen days after the date of declaration of the results, was barred by time.
6. Inviting the attention of the Court to Rule 63 of the Gujarat Panchayats Election Rules, 1994, hereinafter called ‘the Rules’, which deals with the mode of declaration of result by the Returning Officer and publication of result by the Election Commission, the learned Counsel of the petitioner contended that the date of declaration of result, according to Section 31 of the Act, would be the date on which the Election Commission publishes the name or names of the elected member or members, as the case may be, as envisaged in sub-rule (3) of Rule 63 of the Rules, and not the date on which the Returning Officer declares the result as provided in Sub-rule (1) of Rule 63 of the Rules.
7. For proper appreciation of the contention raised by the learned Counsel of the petitioner, it will be apposite to notice the provisions of Sub-rule (1) and Sub-rule (3) of the Rules which are extracted below ;
“63. Declaration and publication of result :-
(1) When the counting of votes has been completed, the Returning Officer shall in absence of any direction by the Election Commission to the contrary, forthwith declare the result of the election in Form 28 by affixing a signed copy of the result in that form on the Notice Board in his office. He shall also send a copy of the same to –
(a) the Election Commission;
(b) the Secretary to Government, Panchayats and Rural Housing Department;
(c) the Development Commissioner;
(d) the District Election Officer;
(e) the District Panchayat;
(f) the Taluka Panchayat;
(g) the Village Panchayat in respect of Village Panchayat election of a Sarpanch.
(3) As soon as the declaration of the result in Form 12 or Form 28 is received from the Returning Officer, the Election Commission shall publish the name or names of elected member or members as the case may be, under Sub-rule (4) of Section 15 in Form 29, 30 or 31 as may be appropriate by affixing a signed copy thereof on the Notice Board in its office.”
8. In the opinion of the Court, under Sub-section (1) of Section 31 of the Act, the relevant date for the purpose of computation of the period of limitation is the date of declaration of result as stipulated in Sub-rule (1) and not the date of publication by the Election Commission as required under Sub-rule (3) of Rule 63 of the Rules. A conjoint and meaningful reading of the provisions of Rule 63 of the Rules leaves no room for doubt that ‘declaration’ and ‘publication’ are two distinctly different steps to be taken by two different statutory functionaries. Declaration is to be made by the Returning Officer and the publication has to be made by the Election Commission. Expressions ‘declaration’ and ‘publication’, used in Rule 63 of the Rules, in the context of Sub-section (1) of Section 31 of the Act, are neither synonymous nor interchangeable. According to Sub-rule (1) of Rule 63 of the Rules, upon completion of counting of votes, the Returning Officer, in the absence of any direction by the Election Commission to the contrary, is obliged to declare the result forthwith by affixing a singed copy of the result on the Notice Board in his office. No doubt, he is further obliged to send a copy of the result to the Election Commission also for compliance of the provisions of Sub-rule (3) of Rule 63 of the Rules. The exercise of declaration is complete upon declaration of result by affixing a signed copy of the result in the prescribed form on the Notice Board in the office of the Returning Officer. The declaration of result is not dependent upon the publication under Sub-rule (3) of Rule 63 of the Rules. For these reasons, the Court does not find any substance in the contention of the learned Counsel of the petitioner and rejects the same.
9. Thus, the learned Civil Judge did not commit any error in holding the Election Petition of the petitioner to be barred by time. The impugned order is prefect and does not warrant any interference by this Court in exercise of its special and extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.
10. In the result, the Special Civil Application fails and is dismissed accordingly.
11. Judgment be circulated to all the Civil Judges (Junior Division) and
Civil Judges (Senior Division).