Mahipal Singh vs Election Commission Of India
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Uttarakhand High Court

Mahipal Singh vs Election Commission Of India on 22 May, 2025

Author: Manoj Kumar Tiwari

Bench: Manoj Kumar Tiwari

                                                    2025:UHC:4266-DB
     IN THE HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND AT
                    NAINITAL

             Writ Petition (PIL) No.82 of 2025

Mahipal Singh                                          ...Petitioner
                                 Vs.

Election Commission of India
And others                                        ... Respondents

Presence:
     Mr. M.C. Pant, learned counsel for petitioner.
     Mr. Shobhit Saharia, learned counsel for respondent no.1.
     Mr. Sanjay Bhatt, learned counsel for respondent no.2.
     Mr. Yogesh Chandra Tiwari, learned Standing Counsel for State of
     Uttarakhand/respondent nos.3 & 4.

Coram:       Hon'ble Manoj Kumar Tiwari, J.
             Hon'ble Ashish Naithani, J.
JUDGMENT:

(per Hon'ble Justice Sri Manoj Kumar Tiwari)

Petitioner is resident of village Kudiyal Thano, Dehradun. According to him, in certain villages in Uttarakhand, especially in District Dehradun there are one or two families residing, however, in the voter list, names of more than 100 voters are included. This, according to him, will impair the purity of election process and will give rise to various other complications in future.

2. By means of this writ petition, petitioner has sought following reliefs:-

"I. Issue a writ, rule, direction or order in the nature of Mandamus directing the respondents to conduct a comprehensive verification and audit of the electoral roll of Village Sateli, Gram Panchayat Nahikalan, under Doiwala Legislative Assembly Constituency, District Dehradun; or to mold relief appropriately keeping in view of the body of the petition.

II. Direct the Respondent to delete all duplicate, fraudulent, or ineligible entries from the electoral roll of Village Sateli and other surrounding villages including Kairwan and Gaikhal, in accordance with the provisions of the Representation of the People Act,

2025:UHC:4266-DB 1950 and Registration of Electors Rules, 1960; III. Direct an independent inquiry or investigation under the supervision of this Hon'ble Court into the misuse of government schemes and allocation of funds based on inflated population data for Sateli village;

IV. Issue a writ, order, or direction directing the Respondents to devise a transparent mechanism to prevent duplication of names in electoral rolls across multiple polling booths within the same constituency;"

4. Learned counsel for petitioner submits that petitioner has made a representation to the District Magistrate, Dehradun on 17.03.2025, (Annexure 9 to the writ petition) and on the said representation, concerned District Magistrate has constituted a Three Member Committee, however the committee is yet to examine the issue. He submits that since Panchyat elections are going to be held, therefore, the matter is of grave urgency.

5. Learned State counsel submits that the writ petition can be disposed of by directing Three Member Committee, constituted by District Magistrate vide order dated 03.04.2025, to look into the issue raised by petitioner and submit its report to the competent authority, as per law.

6. We accordingly, dispose of the writ petition by directing the aforesaid Three Member Committee to look into the issue raised by the petitioner and submit report to the competent authority, within six weeks from the date of production of certified copy of this order.

(Ashish Naithani, J.) (Manoj Kumar Tiwari, J.) 22.05.2025 Arti ARTI SINGH Digitally signed by ARTI SINGH DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=487ed955e722ba65aab55409e686c12fb83a19325e8b66890fbee418e7b69c0d, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=26DC90E00D839E3E8714131F235087D2D87E133C57E7F4A7B2E734BE2521F982, cn=ARTI SINGH Date: 2025.05.23 17:52:21 +05'30'