IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
WP(C).No. 24867 of 2010(G)
1. K.BHARATHAN, OME NIVAS, POOVATHUR,
... Petitioner
Vs
1. STATE ELECTION COMMISSION,
... Respondent
2. DISTRICT ELECTION OFFICER
3. TAHSILDAR, THALASSERY.
For Petitioner :SRI.P.S.SREEDHARAN PILLAI
For Respondent :SRI.MURALI PURUSHOTHAMAN, SC,K.S.E.COMM
The Hon'ble MR. Justice T.R.RAMACHANDRAN NAIR
Dated :30/08/2010
O R D E R
T.R. Ramachandran Nair, J.
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W.P.(C) No. 24867 of 2010-G
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Dated this the 30th day of August, 2010.
JUDGMENT
The petitioner is aggrieved by the shifting of one of the polling
booths in ward No.l3 of Patyam Panchayat from Cheruvancherry U.P.
School to Poovathur Palam Anganvadi. According to the petitioner, it was
done purely due to political pressure exerted by one political party and no
justifiable reasons are there.
2. In ward No.13, according to the petitioner, two polling booths
were located at Cheruvancherry U.P. School which were convenient to all
the voters. For fixing of polling booths, a meeting was held. A proposal
was submitted by one Shri Prabhakaran, for shifting of one of the polling
booths from Cheruvancherry U.P. School to Poovathur New L.P. School
based on the distance. It was enquired through the Tahsildar, Thalassery
and Ext.P1 is the report of enquiry. The second respondent convened a
meeting on 30.7.2010 for settling the dispute and thereafter a decision was
taken to shift one booth pertaining to Div.No.II to Poovathur Palam
Anganvadi. It is pointed out that the same is unsustainable.
3. Ext.P2 is the copy of the representation submitted by the
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petitioner before the second respondent and Ext.P3 is the copy of a mass
petition.
4. On behalf of the State Election Commission, a statement has been
filed. It is pointed out that Section 45 of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act
makes provision for polling stations and no specific norm is provided
therein for fixing polling stations. It only mentions that there should be
sufficient number of polling stations for every Panchayat and that the list of
polling stations shall be published with previous approval of the State
Election Commission. The State Election Commission has issued detailed
guidelines to all District Election Officers for setting up of polling stations.
5. It is explained that a meeting of the political parties was
convened on 30.7.2010 in the chambers of the District Collector. Annexure
A is the photo copy of the minutes of the said meeting. In the said meeting
it was decided to shift polling station No.2 from Cheruvancherry U.P.
School to Poovathurpalam Anganvadi considering the convenience of the
voters to reach the polling station. Annexure B is the letter forwarded to the
Election commission in that regard.
6. It is therefore stated that a final decision was taken as per the
consensus arrived at in the meeting. Learned counsel for the Election
Commission submitted that the political party to which the petitioner
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belongs, was also represented in the meeting and no objections were raised
in the matter. The consensus was arrived at for shifting and the petitioner
cannot reagitate the same in this writ petition. It is clear that the political
party to which the petitioner belongs, was represented before the District
Collector during the meeting. Even though it is contended in para 10 of the
writ petition that the shifting of booth was opposed by the B.J.P., the said
plea goes against the contents of the minutes of the meeting and it doesn’t
show that any such objection was raised. Further, the person who has
represented B.J.P in the meeting, has not disputed the deliberations of the
meeting before any forum as no pleadings to that effect is there in the writ
petition and he is not a party to the writ petition also. Evidently, the
petitioner had not participated in the meeting. Therefore, he cannot dispute
the veracity of the contents of Annexure A.
7. What is provided in Section 45 of the Act is only that there should
be sufficient number of polling stations for every Panchayat. Evidently, the
District Collector had convened a meeting of all the political parties and on
the basis of the consensus arrived at, a decision was taken to shift one
polling station from Cheruvancherry U.P. School to Poovathurpalam
Anganvadi, based on the facility of the voters to travel to the polling
station. This cannot be termed as illegal or arbitrary on any score.
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8. This Court will not be justified in interfering with the order passed
by the second respondent fixing the polling booth, in the absence of any
violation of the statutory provisions. The writ petition is therefore
dismissed. No costs.
(T.R. Ramachandran Nair, Judge.)
kav/