THE HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE UJJAL BHUYAN
AND
THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V.BHASKAR REDDY
WRIT PETITION No.37945 of 2022
ORDER: (Per the Hon'ble the Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan)
Heard Mr. M.V. Raja Ram, learned counsel representing
Mr. C. Balajee, learned counsel for the petitioners and
Mr. Avinash Desai, learned counsel for the 1st respondent.
2. By filing this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, petitioners seek a direction to the respondents to allow the 2nd petitioner to contest the bye- elections to the Munugode Assembly Constituency scheduled on 03.11.2022.
2. 1st petitioner is a political party by the name 'Praja Shanthi Party' and the 2nd petitioner is stated to be its founder and president.
3. According to the petitioners, 2nd petitioner is living in Hyderabad City. He was earlier a voter of the composite 2 HCJ & CVBRJ W.P.No.37945 of 2022 State of Andhra Pradesh. He had filed an application to the 2nd respondent on 08.09.2022 to register him as a voter in the State of Telangana. In this connection, EPCI No. ZJQ1793744 has been generated and assigned to 2nd petitioner, but his name has not appeared in the voters list for the State of Telangana as on 01.01.2022 which is the qualifying date.
4. In the meanwhile, Election Commission of India i.e., 1st respondent has issued Press Note dated 03.10.2022 for holding bye-elections to fill up vacancies in different Assembly Constituencies of various States including Assembly Constituency No.93-Munugode in the State of Telangana.
5. As per the Press Note, the schedule for the election has been published which is as under:
Schedule for Bye-election for Assembly Constituencies Poll Events Schedule Date of Issue of Gazette Notification 7th October, 2022 (Friday) Last Date of Nominations 14th October, 2022 (Friday) Date for Scrutiny of Nominations 15th October, 2022 3 HCJ & CVBRJ W.P.No.37945 of 2022 (Saturday) Last Date for Withdrawal of candidatures 17th October, 2022 (Monday) Date of Poll 3rd November, 2022 (Thursday) Date of Counting 6th November, 2022 (Sunday) Date before which election shall be 8th November, 2022 completed (Tuesday)
6. In the Press Note, it is mentioned that Electoral Rolls with respect to 01.01.2022 would be used for the bye-
elections.
7. 2nd petitioner wants to contest the bye-elections to No.93-Munugode Assembly Constituency. With the apprehension that his nomination would not be accepted as his name does not appear in the voters list of the State of Telangana as on 01.01.2022, the present writ petition has been filed.
8. The writ petition was moved before the Vacation Court on 06.10.2022, on which date learned counsel for the 1st respondent sought for time to obtain instructions.
9. In the hearing today, Mr. Avinash Desai, learned counsel for the 1st respondent has drawn the attention of the 4 HCJ & CVBRJ W.P.No.37945 of 2022 Court to Section 14(b) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, to contend that qualifying date in relation to preparation or revision of every electoral roll would mean the first day of January of the year in which the electoral roll is prepared or revised. According to him the qualifying date appearing in the aforesaid provision is in context of Section 19 of the aforesaid Act which deals with registration of a person to be a voter. He has also referred to Section 5(c) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, to contend that a person shall not be qualified to be chosen to fill a seat in the legislative Assembly of a State unless he is an elector for any Assembly Constituency in that State.
10. However, Mr. Raja Ram, learned counsel submits that by the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021, the words "first day of January" has been substituted by the words "first day of January, first day of April, first day of July and first day of October". Therefore, the voters list would have to be updated as on 01.10.2022.
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W.P.No.37945 of 2022
11. Learned counsel for the petitioners has also placed reliance on a decision of the Supreme Court in Keshav v. Shivarajrao1.
12. From a perusal of the documents on record including the Press Note dated 03.10.2022, it is evident that the electoral process has been set in motion. The last date for filing nominations is 14.10.2022. Though the qualifying date for No.93-Munugode Assembly Constituency is 01.01.2022, the process of upgrading the electoral rolls is a continuous one and would be made final as on the first day of October, 2022. However, no amendments can be made after the last date of filing nominations.
13. Viewed in the above context, petitioners' apprehension that name of petitioner No.2 may not figure in the voters list appears to be pre-mature as the time for the filing of nomination is not yet over.
14. Insofar the decision of the Supreme Court in Keshav (supra) is concerned, we find that name of the 1 (2009) 15 Supreme Court Cases 603 6 HCJ & CVBRJ W.P.No.37945 of 2022 appellant in that case was not included in the voters list because the cut-off date was 30.06.2007, whereas the appellant was enrolled on 14.07.2007 i.e., after the cut-off date. Supreme Court without entering into the above aspect permitted the appellant to file the nomination form leaving it open to the respondents to raise objection about entertainability of the nomination papers.
15. We are of the view that the aforesaid judgment is not at all applicable to the facts of the present case.
16. On thorough consideration of all aspects of the matter, we are not inclined to entertain the writ petition.
17. Writ Petition is accordingly dismissed. However, there shall be no order as to costs.
18. Miscellaneous applications pending, if any, in this Writ Petition shall stand closed.
__________________________ UJJAL BHUYAN, CJ ___________________________ C.V.BHASKAR REDDY, J Date: 10.10.2022 KL