The Supreme Court has overturned the result of a 2022 gram panchayat election in Haryana after issuing summons for the Electronic Voting Machines used during the polls and directing its registrar to conduct a recount of the votes.

The case pertained to an election in November 2022 for the post of sarpanch of Buana Lakhu village in Panipat district.

After the registrar recounted the votes in the Supreme Court, the defeated candidate Mohit Kumar was found to have obtained 51 more votes than Kuldeep Singh, the candidate who had been declared the winner.

Subsequently, a bench of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and N Kotiswar Singh on August 11 ordered the Panipat deputy commissioner-cum-election officer to issue within two days a notification declaring the defeated candidate as the elected sarpanch.

The Supreme Court also said that the newly-elected sarpanch, who was the petitioner in the matter, would be entitled to assume his office immediately and perform his duties. It added that the result was subject to the final judgement of the election tribunal.

The bench said that there was “prima facie no reason to doubt the report submitted by the OSD [officer on special duty/registrar] of this court, especially when the entire recounting has been duly videographed and its result is signed by the representatives of the parties”.

It added: “…we are satisfied that the appellant deserves to be declared as the elected sarpanch” in the election held in November 2022.

During the hearing, Kant said that the candidate who was earlier declared as the winner of the election was not to be blamed as the “blunder” happened only in one booth, Live Law reported.

“…complete mess created by returning officer/the counting officer, it is he who committed a blunder,” Live Law quoted the judge as saying. “In these kind of matters, the only solution is, you go for recount…never thought that High Court will write 15 pages to deny recount!”

The case

In 2022, a candidate Kuldeep Singh was declared the winner of the gram panchayat election in Buana Lakhu.

However, the returning officer suo motu ordered a recounting of votes on the same day because of an error in the preparation of the result by the presiding officer at one of the booths, Live Law reported.

Following this, another candidate named Mohit Kumar was declared elected.

Kuldeep Singh had challenged the result the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which noted that the outcome of the election could not be suo motu changed by recounting the votes once a candidate was declared elected.

The appropriate remedy available to an aggrieved party was to file an election petition, it added.

The bench had set aside Kumar’s election and directed authorities to notify Kuldeep Singh as the elected sarpanch.

In response, Kumar filed an election petition, after which Kuldeep Singh raised a preliminary objection on the grounds of limitation.

The matter eventually reached the Supreme Court, which rejected Kuldeep Singh’s objection and directed the election tribunal to decide the case within four months, Live Law reported.

In April, the election tribunal held that there was a need to recount the votes at one of the booths and the deputy commissioner-cum-election officer was directed to conduct the exercise.

However, this order was set aside by the High Court after Kuldeep Singh filed an appeal.

Subsequently, Kumar moved the Supreme Court against the High Court order.

In July, the Supreme Court ordered the production of the EVMs before a nominated registrar, Live Law reported. The registrar was directed to recount the votes for all five booths and this exercise was videographed.

The report submitted by the registrar after the recount indicated that Kumar had secured 51 votes more than Kuldeep Singh in the revised result.

On August 11, the Supreme Court reversed the earlier results but added that since one of the petitioners contended that certain other issues remained to be adjudicated, the parties were at liberty to present it before the tribunal.

📰 Crime Today News is proudly sponsored by DRYFRUIT & CO – A Brand by eFabby Global LLC

Design & Developed by Yes Mom Hosting