{"id":223472,"date":"2009-01-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-01-21T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/sau-kamla-ramrao-rathod-vs-additional-commissioner-on-22-january-2009-2"},"modified":"2017-04-10T01:18:38","modified_gmt":"2017-04-09T19:48:38","slug":"sau-kamla-ramrao-rathod-vs-additional-commissioner-on-22-january-2009-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/sau-kamla-ramrao-rathod-vs-additional-commissioner-on-22-january-2009-2","title":{"rendered":"Sau. Kamla Ramrao Rathod vs Additional Commissioner on 22 January, 2009"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"docsource_main\">Bombay High Court<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_title\">Sau. Kamla Ramrao Rathod vs Additional Commissioner on 22 January, 2009<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_bench\">Bench: S.R. Dongaonkar<\/div>\n<pre>                                1\n\n      IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY:\n\n\n\n\n                                                                          \n                   NAGPUR BENCH : NAGPUR\n\n\n\n\n                                                  \n                WRIT PETITION NO. 4759 OF 2008\n    PETITIONER:\n              Sau. Kamla Ramrao Rathod, Aged 40 years,\n              occupation :        House Wife, resident of\n\n\n\n\n                                                 \n              Deurwadi, tahsil Manora,       District: Washim.\n                                  VERSUS\n    RESPONDENTS:\n    1]        Additional Commissioner, Amravati, Division at\n\n\n\n\n                                        \n              Amravati.\n    2]        Sau. Sadhana Dadarao Patil (Karsade), aged 40\n                           \n              years,     occupation : House Wife\n    3]        Shri L.M. Ingle Deurwadi Presiding Officer,\n              Grampanchayat\n                          \n    4]        Shri Vivek Vishnudas Ade, aged 23 years,\n              occupation :        agriculturist\n    5]        Sau. Vandana Arjuna Ade, aged 23 years,\n              occupation :        House Wife\n          \n\n\n    6]        Uttam Pandurang Natkar, Aged 52 years,\n              occupation :        Agriculturist,\n       \n\n\n\n              Both respondent no. 2 to 6 are resident of\n              Deurwadi ,          Tahsil Manora, District :\n              Washim.\n\n\n\n\n\n    ================================\n    Shri M.D. Modak, Advocate for petitioner\n    Shri Sonare A.G.P. for respondent no.1\n    Shri R.D. Bhuibhar, Advocate for respondents no.2,4 to 6.\n    None present for Respondent no.3 though served\n\n\n\n\n\n    ================================\n    CORAM: S.R. DONGAONKAR, J.\n<\/pre>\n<p>    DATE:22.1.2009<\/p>\n<p>    ORAL JUDGMENT<\/p>\n<p>             Rule. Made returnable forthwith. Heard finally<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                                  ::: Downloaded on &#8211; 09\/06\/2013 14:16:25 :::<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                    2<\/span><\/p>\n<p>    with the consent of the parties.\n<\/p>\n<p>    2]        The petitioner was elected as Sarpanch during the<\/p>\n<p>    election held on 28.12.2007 of Gram Panchayat Deurwadi.<br \/>\n    Respondents no. 2,4,5 and 6 challenged that election before<br \/>\n    the Additional Collector, Washim. Said petition was<\/p>\n<p>    dismissed. The ground that was raised to challenge the<br \/>\n    election was that the Returning Officer had followed wrong<\/p>\n<p>    procedure of election which was not in accordance with Rule<br \/>\n    10(2) of the Bombay Village Panchayats (Sarpanch &amp; Upa-\n<\/p>\n<p>    Sarpanch) Election Rules. It appears to be a contention that<\/p>\n<p>    though the symbols to the candidates are not required to be<br \/>\n    allotted, still they were allotted and the election was held by<br \/>\n    secret ballot. As stated, the said petition was dismissed.\n<\/p>\n<p>    3]        The matter was taken in appeal before the<br \/>\n    Additional Commissioner, Amravati Division, Amravati by<br \/>\n    respondents. Said appeal No.15\/BVP Act 33(5)\/2007-2008<\/p>\n<p>    of Deurwadi, Tq. Manora, District Washim, was allowed by<br \/>\n    the   order    dated     17.10.2008.     Learned     Additional<br \/>\n    Commissioner relied on the judgment of the Apex Court<\/p>\n<p>    reported in 1994 Mh.L.J. 100 [Jaenendrakumar Phoolchand<br \/>\n    Daftari ..vs.. Rajendra Ramkush Mishra &amp; others. According<br \/>\n    to the Additional Commissioner, there is no provision under<br \/>\n    the Bombay Village Panchayats (Sarpanch &amp; Up-sarpanch)<br \/>\n    Elections Rules to allot symbols to the contesting candidates.\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                                       ::: Downloaded on &#8211; 09\/06\/2013 14:16:25 :::<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                    3<\/span><\/p>\n<p>    Even there are illiterate members who can cast their votes by<\/p>\n<p>    ballots. Taking this      view of the matter, the learned<br \/>\n    Commissioner allowed the appeal and set aside the election.\n<\/p>\n<p>    4]          This order is challenged by the petitioner in this<br \/>\n    petition.\n<\/p>\n<p>    5]          Learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted<\/p>\n<p>    that merely because symbols were allotted to the contesting<br \/>\n    candidates, there is no breach of the rules and particularly<\/p>\n<p>    rule 10(2). According to him, the decision of the Apex court<\/p>\n<p>    in 1994 Mh.L.J. 100 Jaenendrakumar Phoolchand Daftari<br \/>\n    ..vs.. Rajendra Ramsukh Mishra &amp; others, is not attracted at<br \/>\n    all, whereas the decision of this court reported in<\/p>\n<p>    2006(6)Mh.L.J. 801 Ratnamala w\/o Ashokrao Shinde and<\/p>\n<p>    another ..vs.. Election Officer, Gram Panchayat, Palodi, is<br \/>\n    squarely applicable.\n<\/p>\n<p>    6]          According to him, the Returning Officer can evolve<br \/>\n    his own procedure to ensure proper and fair election<br \/>\n    progress. Rule 10(2) does not stipulate any procedure.\n<\/p>\n<p>    According to him, merely because symbols were allotted that<br \/>\n    does not mean that there is any breach of rule or rule 10(2)<br \/>\n    calling for setting aside the election. He has further<br \/>\n    submitted that the decision of the Apex Court referred above<br \/>\n    has been considered by this court in the aforesaid Ratnmala&#8217;s<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                                      ::: Downloaded on &#8211; 09\/06\/2013 14:16:25 :::<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                    4<\/span><\/p>\n<p>    case and therefore, the reliance placed by the Additional<\/p>\n<p>    Commissioner, on that decision was not called for to allow<br \/>\n    the appeal. It is therefore, submitted by him that the said<\/p>\n<p>    order should be set aside.\n<\/p>\n<p>    7]         Learned A.G.P. for respondent no.1 has supported<\/p>\n<p>    the order of the Additional Commissioner for the reasons<br \/>\n    recorded by him.\n<\/p>\n<p>    8]         Learned counsel for the respondent no.2 has<\/p>\n<p>    however, by taking me through decision of the Apex Court<\/p>\n<p>    reported in 1994 Mh.L.J. 100 Jaenendrakumar Phoolchand<br \/>\n    Daftari ..vs.. Rajendra Ramsukh Mishra and others submitted<br \/>\n    that it was not necessary for Returning Officer to allot<\/p>\n<p>    symbols to the contesting candidates even when the the<\/p>\n<p>    voters are ill-literate who are to cast votes by ballot.<br \/>\n    Therefore, procedure of the election as followed by the<br \/>\n    Presiding Officer should not have been evolved. As such the<\/p>\n<p>    order passed by the Additional Collector, in pursuance to the<br \/>\n    aforesaid decision of the Apex Court was correct, therefore,<br \/>\n    it is not liable to be set aside. He has further submitted that<\/p>\n<p>    it is   a finding of fact and therefore is not liable to be<br \/>\n    interfered in this petition.\n<\/p>\n<p>    9]         In order to appreciate the controversy in the<br \/>\n    matter, it is necessary to have close look on the proceedings<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                                      ::: Downloaded on &#8211; 09\/06\/2013 14:16:25 :::<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                   5<\/span><\/p>\n<p>    of the instant election which is thus<\/p>\n<p>             &#8221;          This day 28.12.2007 i.e. Friday<br \/>\n             election for the post of Sarpanch\/ Upa<br \/>\n             Sarpanch was held at Gram Panchayat Office<\/p>\n<p>             Deurwadi, under the chairmanship of Shri<br \/>\n             L.M. Ingale (V.P.) Uttam Pandurang Natkar is<br \/>\n             a proposer thereof. Another nomination form<br \/>\n             for the post of Upa Sarpancha was received<\/p>\n<p>             from Shri Vivek Vishnudas Ade at 11.30 O&#8217;<br \/>\n             clock in the morning Proposer thereof is Sau<br \/>\n             Vandana Arjun Ade. Thereafter a nomination<br \/>\n             form of Sau. Kamla Ramrao Rathod for the<\/p>\n<p>             post of Sarpancha was received at 11.50 O&#8217;<br \/>\n             Clock in the morning. Proposer thereof is<\/p>\n<p>             Usha Ruprao. Similarly, second nomination<br \/>\n             form for the post of Upa Sarpancha was<\/p>\n<p>             received from Deshmukh Usha Ruprao at<br \/>\n             11.55 O&#8217; clock in the morning. Proposer<br \/>\n             thereof is Kamalsingh Mangalsingh.\n<\/p>\n<p>                       Gram Panchayat members Sau.\n<\/p>\n<p>             Kamala Ramrao Rathod, Usha Ruprao<\/p>\n<p>             Deshmukh and Shri Komalsingh Mangusingh<br \/>\n             Rathod by submitting an application, made a<br \/>\n             demand for voting by secret ballot for both<br \/>\n             the posts of residential Sarpancha and Upa<\/p>\n<p>             Sarpancha.\n<\/p>\n<p>                       Similarly Grampanchayat members<br \/>\n             Vivek Vishnudas Ade, Sau. Sadhanatai<br \/>\n             Dadarao Patil, Uttam Pandurang Natkar and<\/p>\n<p>             Sau Vandana Arjun Ade, submitted an<br \/>\n             application with their signatures for taking<br \/>\n             voting openly by show of hands.\n<\/p>\n<p>                       On receipt of the application for<br \/>\n             voting by secret ballot, a resolution was<br \/>\n             passed to take voting by secret ballot for the<br \/>\n             both the posts i.e. of Sarpancha and Upa<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                                    ::: Downloaded on &#8211; 09\/06\/2013 14:16:25 :::<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                           6<\/span><\/p>\n<p>     Sarpancha, as per the rules.\n<\/p>\n<p>                The meeting commenced at 2.00<br \/>\n     O&#8217;clock sharp. All the seven out of total seven<\/p>\n<p>     members were present. As the quorum was<br \/>\n     full, the meeting was commenced. At first, the<br \/>\n     Presiding Officer made the members aware of<br \/>\n     the secret ballot and informed them about it.\n<\/p>\n<p>     All the members gave their consent to it.<br \/>\n     Accordingly ballot papers were prepared for<br \/>\n     the post of Sarpancha.\n<\/p>\n<p>                Name of 1] Sau. Sadhana Dadarao<br \/>\n     Patil who was the candidate for the post of<\/p>\n<p>     Sarpanch was written against which she was<br \/>\n     allotted a symbol of &#8216;Chendu&#8217; (ball) as<br \/>\n     demanded by her. Name of Sau. Kamala<\/p>\n<p>     Ramrao Rathod who was another candidate fo<br \/>\n     the post of Sarpancha was written on the<br \/>\n     ballot paper, against which she was allotted a<br \/>\n     symbol of &#8216;Bird&#8217; as demanded by her. Total<\/p>\n<p>     seven ballot papers were prepared for the post<br \/>\n     of Sarpancha and one dummy ballot paper<\/p>\n<p>     was prepared for showing it to the candidates.<br \/>\n     Name of Vivek Vishnudas Ade who was the<br \/>\n     candidate for the post of Upa Sarpancha was<\/p>\n<p>     written and as demanded by him, he was<br \/>\n     allotted a symbol of &#8216;Pencil&#8217;. Name of Usha<br \/>\n     Ruprao Deshmukh who was               another<br \/>\n     candidate for the post of Upa Sarpancha was<br \/>\n     written and a symbol of &#8216;Flower&#8217; was allotted<\/p>\n<p>     to her as demanded by her. Total 7 ballot<br \/>\n     papers were prepared for the post of Upa<br \/>\n     Sarpancha and 1 dummy ballot paper was<br \/>\n     prepared for showing it to the candidates.<br \/>\n     Thereafter ballot papers and dummy ballot<br \/>\n     papers were shown and instructions were<br \/>\n     given for secret voting.\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                             ::: Downloaded on &#8211; 09\/06\/2013 14:16:25 :::<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                               7<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                    At first election was held for the<br \/>\n          post of Sarpanch and thereafter election was<\/p>\n<p>          held for the post of Upa Sarpancha and the<br \/>\n          ballot papers &#8211; were deposited in (a card-\n<\/p>\n<p>          board) box.\n<\/p>\n<p>                    On counting of the ballot papers,<br \/>\n          Sau Sadhana Dadarao Patil was found to have<\/p>\n<p>          secured 3 (three) votes for the post of<br \/>\n          Sarpancha whereas Sau. Kamala Ramrao<br \/>\n          Rathod was found to have secured 3 votes for<br \/>\n          the post of Sarpancha. One ballot paper for<\/p>\n<p>          the post of Sarpanch was found without a<br \/>\n          vote being cast. (blank). As both the<\/p>\n<p>          candidates for the post of Sarpancha secured<br \/>\n          equal No. of votes, discussion was held and<br \/>\n          Ishwar Chitthi [draw by lot] was carried<\/p>\n<p>          through Roshan Ramesh Ade, aged 5 years,<br \/>\n          resident of Chitwali. The Ishwar Chitthi (draw<br \/>\n          by lot) was found to be in favour of Sau.<br \/>\n          Kamala Ramrao Rathod. Hence I L.M. Ingale<\/p>\n<p>          Chairman, Gram Panchayat Deurwadi hereby<br \/>\n          declare Sau. Kamala Ramrao Rathod elected<\/p>\n<p>          for the post of Sarpancha of Gram Panchayat<br \/>\n          Deurwadi.\n<\/p>\n<p>                    Similarly on counting the ballot<br \/>\n          papers for the post of Upa Sarpancha, it was<br \/>\n          found that Shri Vivek Vishnudas Ade had<br \/>\n          secured 4 (four) votes and Deshmukh Usha<br \/>\n          Ruprao, another candidate for the said post<\/p>\n<p>          had secured 3(three) votes. Hence I hereby<br \/>\n          declare Vivek Vishnudas Ade elected for the<br \/>\n          post of Upa Sarpancha.\n<\/p>\n<pre>                    At the    end, the   meeting     was\n          declared over.\"\n\n    10]    Only allotment of symbols was something which\n\n\n\n\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                                 ::: Downloaded on - 09\/06\/2013 14:16:25 :::<\/span>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                   8<\/span>\n\n<\/pre>\n<p>    was not provided in the rules. Rest of the procedure followed<\/p>\n<p>    is not at all challenged.\n<\/p>\n<p>    11]        In order to consider as to whether such allotment<br \/>\n    of symbol could vitiate the election, one has to examine the<\/p>\n<p>    relevant rule. Rule 10(2) reads thus:\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>             &#8220;10(2):(2) If more than one candidate have<br \/>\n             been so nominated, the Presiding Officer shall<\/p>\n<p>             proceed to elect the Sarpanch as the case may<br \/>\n             be, Upa Sarpanch. The voting at such election<\/p>\n<p>             shall be by show of hands. if, however, any<br \/>\n             member present at the meeting so demands,<br \/>\n             the voting shall be by ballot. The candidate<\/p>\n<p>             who obtains the highest number of voters<br \/>\n             shall be declared to have been duly elected as<br \/>\n             Sarpanch, or as the case may be, Upa<br \/>\n             Sarpanch. When any equality of valid votes is<\/p>\n<p>             found to exist between any two or more<br \/>\n             candidates and the addition of one vote will<\/p>\n<p>             entitle any of them to be declared as Sarpanch<br \/>\n             or, as the case may be, Upa Sarpanch, the<br \/>\n             determination of the candidate to whom such<\/p>\n<p>             additional vote shall be deemed to have been<br \/>\n             given shall be made by lot to be drawn by the<br \/>\n             Presiding Officer in such manner as he shall<br \/>\n             determine.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>    12]        It cannot be disputed that there is no particular<br \/>\n    procedure provided by Rule 10(2) and Presiding Officer is<br \/>\n    free to evolve his own procedure for ensuring fair procedure,<br \/>\n    particularly; if demand of secret ballot is made. It is<br \/>\n    necessary to note that granting symbols to the contesting<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                                    ::: Downloaded on &#8211; 09\/06\/2013 14:16:25 :::<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                   9<\/span><\/p>\n<p>    candidates is not specifically prohibited under that rule.\n<\/p>\n<p>    However contention for implied prohibition has been raised<br \/>\n    on the basis of observations of the Apex Court in paragraph<\/p>\n<p>    9 of the Janendrakumar&#8217;s case. Paragraph 9 reads thus:\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>             &#8220;9.        There is no provision in the Rules<br \/>\n             requiring allotment by the Presiding Officer of<\/p>\n<p>             symbols to candidates, where the voting of the<br \/>\n             members of the Panchayat for the election of<br \/>\n             the Sarpanch or Upa Sarpanch by means of<br \/>\n             secret Ballot becomes necessary. Such<\/p>\n<p>             provision is not envisaged since the Presiding<br \/>\n             Officer cannot be expected to get the ballot<\/p>\n<p>             papers with symbols ready all of a sudden in<br \/>\n             the meeting wherein the election has to be<br \/>\n             completed. However, if a situation arises<\/p>\n<p>             where an illiterate member is required to vote,<br \/>\n             that fact may be borne in mind of the<br \/>\n             Presiding Officer and he may evolve a<br \/>\n             procedure which would enable the illiterate<\/p>\n<p>             members to vote, e.g. if there are two or mor<br \/>\n             more candidates, he may ask the member to<\/p>\n<p>             put a cross mark for candidate A, a zeros mark<br \/>\n             for candidate B and so on or the Presiding<br \/>\n             Officer may assist such a member to cast the<\/p>\n<p>             vote for the candidate of his or her choice. In<br \/>\n             such situations, the Presiding Officer, could, as<br \/>\n             well, record in the minutes of the meeting, as<br \/>\n             to how, he has rendered the assistance to a<br \/>\n             member who could not caste his vote by<\/p>\n<p>             ballot, in the usual course, for such recording<br \/>\n             may help in avoiding future controversies on<br \/>\n             the matter. Hence, it is not necessary for the<br \/>\n             Presiding Officer, presiding over the election<br \/>\n             meeting convened for electing Sarpanch or<br \/>\n             Upa Sarpanch to allot symbols to contesting<br \/>\n             candidates even where there are illiterates<br \/>\n             among members who have to cast their votes<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                                      ::: Downloaded on &#8211; 09\/06\/2013 14:16:25 :::<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                   10<\/span><\/p>\n<p>             by ballot. This is our answer to Point-2.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>    It would appear on perusal of these observations along with<br \/>\n    observations in paragraph 7 of the said judgment which<\/p>\n<p>    reads thus:\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>             &#8220;7.         According to sub rule (2), the<br \/>\n             Presiding Officer conducting the election of<\/p>\n<p>             the Sarpanch or the Upa Sarpanch among the<br \/>\n             contents in a meeting of the members of the<br \/>\n             Panchayat concerned convened for the<br \/>\n             purpose, is required to call upon such<\/p>\n<p>             members to vote by show of hands. But, it<br \/>\n             requires the Presiding Officer to carry out<\/p>\n<p>             such election by secret ballot if any members<br \/>\n             present at the meeting, makes a demand in<br \/>\n             that regard. Thus, the sub rule clearly specifies<\/p>\n<p>             the method by which the Presiding Officer<br \/>\n             shall proceed to have the Sarpannch or Upa<br \/>\n             Sarpanch, as the case may be, elected.<br \/>\n             However, the question is, whether the sub rule<\/p>\n<p>             permits the Presiding Officer of the election<br \/>\n             meeting to have the Sarpanch or Upa<\/p>\n<p>             Sarpanch, as the case may be elected, by<br \/>\n             calling the voter to elect the Sarpanch, by<br \/>\n             show of hands or by voting by ballot,<\/p>\n<p>             according to his choice. If it is to be so held,<br \/>\n             the requirement of holding of election by<br \/>\n             ballot on demand by any member present at<br \/>\n             the meeting convened under the sub-rule,<br \/>\n             becomes superfluous. No requirement in a rule<\/p>\n<p>             can be unwarranted anomaly. Having regard<br \/>\n             to the requirement of the provision which<br \/>\n             specifically provides as to how the Presiding<br \/>\n             Officer has to proceed to elect the Sarpanch or<br \/>\n             Upa Sarpanch, as the case may be, we find it<br \/>\n             difficult to think that the Presiding Officer is<br \/>\n             given the choice or liberty of proceeding to<br \/>\n             have the Sarpanch or Upa Sarpanch elected in<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                                      ::: Downloaded on &#8211; 09\/06\/2013 14:16:25 :::<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                  11<\/span><\/p>\n<p>             a manner different from that indicated in the<br \/>\n             provisions in sub rule (2) of Rule 10: hence,<\/p>\n<p>             the provision in Rule 10(2) of the Rules, in our<br \/>\n             view, makes it incumbent on the Presiding<\/p>\n<p>             Officer to proceed to elect the Sarpanch or<br \/>\n             Upa Sarpanch, as the case may be, in a<br \/>\n             meeting to elect the Sarpanch or Upa<br \/>\n             Sarpanch, as the case may be by show of<\/p>\n<p>             hands unless there is a demand by any<br \/>\n             member present at the meeting to proceed<br \/>\n             with the election of the Sarpanch or Upa<br \/>\n             Sarpanch, as the case may be, by having<\/p>\n<p>             recourse to voting by secret ballot.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>    that recourse to the secret ballot has to be taken when there<br \/>\n    is such demand.\n<\/p>\n<p>    13]       Here is the case where such demand was made.<br \/>\n    There was objection to this also because some of the<\/p>\n<p>    members of the Gram Panchayat had asked for voting by<\/p>\n<p>    raise of hands. Thereafter, it was decided that there should<br \/>\n    be voting by secret ballot, later on respondent no.2 asked<br \/>\n    for symbol of &#8220;ball&#8221;. Petitioner at her choice was granted<\/p>\n<p>    symbol of &#8220;bird&#8221;. Thus it appears that contesting candidates<br \/>\n    had asked for symbols and they did not object at any time for<br \/>\n    allotment of symbols nor claimed that there should be an<\/p>\n<p>    election, by secret ballots as indicated by the Hon. Apex<br \/>\n    Court in paragraph 9 of the aforesaid judgment. In my<br \/>\n    opinion, therefore, once the respondent no.2 had acceded to<br \/>\n    the procedure evolved by the Presiding Officer, she should be<br \/>\n    estopped from claiming it to be illegal and to challenge the<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                                     ::: Downloaded on &#8211; 09\/06\/2013 14:16:25 :::<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                    12<\/span><\/p>\n<p>    election of the petitioner on that ground particularly when<\/p>\n<p>    no prejudice is seen to be caused to her.\n<\/p>\n<p>    14]        On careful perusal of the observations of the Apex<br \/>\n    Court in paragraph 9 of the judgment referred above, it would<br \/>\n    be difficult to hold that allotment of symbols was totally<\/p>\n<p>    prohibited, though it was observed that it was not necessary.<br \/>\n    Particularly, in the facts of the instant case and the proceeding,<br \/>\n    which I have extracted above, challenge of the respondent no.2<\/p>\n<p>    to the Election on this ground cannot be upheld.\n<\/p>\n<p>    15]        In this context, it is necessary to see the<\/p>\n<p>    observations of the learned Single Judge in 2006(6) Mh.l.J.<br \/>\n    801 Ratnamala w\/o Ashokrao Shinde &amp; another ..vs..<br \/>\n    Election Officer, Gram Panchayat, Palodi :\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>            &#8220;The election procedure adopted by the<\/p>\n<p>            nominated election officer cannot be<br \/>\n            invalidated for minor irregularities which are<br \/>\n            highlighted in the impugned orders of the<\/p>\n<p>            Additional      Collector   and     Additional<br \/>\n            Commissioner<br \/>\n    and the facts therein and in particular the observations in<br \/>\n    paragraph 14 which reads thus:\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>            &#8220;14-Faced with this difficulty, learned<\/p>\n<p>            counsel, Shri Chincholkar would submit that<br \/>\n            this Court should not interfere with the<br \/>\n            finding of fact as recorded by both the<br \/>\n            authorities in view of scope of Article 227.<br \/>\n            He seeks to rely on Roshanlal (dead) by Lrs.<br \/>\n            ..vs.. State of Rajasthan and others, (2004)<br \/>\n            13 SCC 559 and Essen Deinki ..vs.. Rajiv<br \/>\n            Kumar, (2002) 8 SCC 400. In the given case,<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                                        ::: Downloaded on &#8211; 09\/06\/2013 14:16:25 :::<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                   13<\/span><\/p>\n<p>             the Apex Court has observed that only the<br \/>\n             errors of law, perverse finding and gross<\/p>\n<p>             violations of natural justice, to name a few,<br \/>\n             are available grounds to interfere in writ<\/p>\n<p>             jurisdiction under Article 227.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>    16]        It would be seen that when there is patent error<\/p>\n<p>    committed by the Additional Commissioner in deciding the<br \/>\n    matter and allowing the appeal, same has to be interfered<br \/>\n    with; in the writ jurisdiction of this court, under article 227<\/p>\n<p>    as there appears totally incorrect application of law to the<br \/>\n    facts of the case.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>    17]        In this view of the matter, the petition succeeds.<br \/>\n    The order passed by the Additional Commissioner, Amravati,<br \/>\n    impugned in this petition is hereby quashed and set aside<\/p>\n<p>    and the order of Additional District Collector, Washim, is<\/p>\n<p>    hereby restored.\n<\/p>\n<p>    18]        Rule made absolute in the aforesaid terms. No<\/p>\n<p>    order as to costs.\n<\/p>\n<p>                                              JUDGE<br \/>\n    smp.\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                                      ::: Downloaded on &#8211; 09\/06\/2013 14:16:25 :::<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bombay High Court Sau. Kamla Ramrao Rathod vs Additional Commissioner on 22 January, 2009 Bench: S.R. Dongaonkar 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY: NAGPUR BENCH : NAGPUR WRIT PETITION NO. 4759 OF 2008 PETITIONER: Sau. Kamla Ramrao Rathod, Aged 40 years, occupation : House Wife, resident of Deurwadi, tahsil Manora, District: Washim. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-223472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bombay-high-court","category-high-court"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sau. 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