PATNA, India, Sept. 1 -- Patna High Court issued the following judgment on Aug. 1:
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner, learned counsel for the Respondent-State and learned counsel for the State Election Authority.
2. The petitioner filed the present writ application claiming the following reliefs:-
"(i) For issuance of writ in the nature of Mandamus for directing and commanding the responsible Respondent Authorities specially the Block Development Officer-cumElection Officer, Nawanagar Block, District-Buxar (Respondent No. 10) to accept the nomination paper of the petitioner dated 10.01.2025 to contest the election for the post of Chairman of Giridhar Baraon PACS, Block-Nawanagar, District- Buxar, in the interest of justice and securing the rights and entitlement of the candidate and voters guaranteed under Part-III of the Constitution of India under Article-19(1)(a) and the Statutory rights incorporated under the Cooperative Societies Act, 2023 as well as securing the beauty of democratic process.
(ii) For staying the operation of the election process for the post of Chairman and Members of the Giridhar Baraon PACS, BlockNawanagar under the DistrictBuxar for securing the beauty and objective of democratic process as well as the rights of the candidates and voters guaranteed under Article-19(1) (a) of the Constitution of India as well as the prevailing Act and Statutes, during the pendency of this writ application.
(iii) For issuance of direction to the higher officials or the responsible respondents to take punitive action against the Respondent No. 10, who has deliberately and willfully not accepted the nomination paper of the petitioner and flatly denied to accept the same in connivance with Private Respondent No. 12 having pecuniary interest, although on the scheduled time and date of nomination i.e. 11:00 A.M. to 04:00 P.M. on 10.01.2025, the petitioner is present at the place/scheduled venue for filing the nomination paper by fulfilling each and every criteria having all documentations being the most eligible candidate for the post of Chairman of Giridhar Baraon PACS, i.e. Nawanagar Block, District- Buxar, which would be evident from the CCTV Footage of Nawanagar Block and the mandatory recording done by the authority concerned in pursuance of the guidelines issued by the Bihar State Cooperative Election Authority (Respondent No. 6). (iv) For any other relief or reliefs to which the petitioner is entitled for in the facts and circumstances of the case."
3. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that as per the announcement of the PACS Election, 2024, the date of nomination for the post of Chairman and Members of the Giridhar Baraon PACS, Block- Nawanagar under the District- Buxar had been specified and the date of filing nomination and time was fixed for 09.01.2025 (Thursday) and 10.01.2025 (Friday) from 11:00 AM to 03:00 PM. This was done through notification dated 31.12.2024 contained in Memo No. 2351 (Annexure P/1). It is further submitted that in pursuance of the aforesaid, being the most eligible and suitable candidate for the post of Chairman and Members of the Giridhar Baraon PACS, Block- Nawanagar under the District-Buxar, the petitioner went to Nawanagar Block before the Block Development Officer-cum-Election Officer, Nawanagar to file his nomination paper with his proposer namely, Ganesh Singh son of Atal Bihari Singh and supporter namely Sudama Ram son of Bhuteli Ram. As per the petitioner, the nomination form duly filed up with all the required documentation was presented on 10.01.2025 at 11:00 AM but the Block Development Officercum-Election Officer, Nawanagar in connivance with respondent no. 12 flatly refused to accept the nomination paper and drove the petitioner away. On the other hand, the same Block Development Officer-cum-Election Officer, Nawanagar accepted the nomination of the other candidate (Respondent No. 12).
4. It is further contended that being aggrieved by the aforesaid illegal act of the Block Development Officer-cumElection Officer, Nawanagar of refusing to accept the nomination paper, the petitioner filed applications dated 10.01.2025 to all the authorities concerned including the District Election Officer-cum-District Magistrate, Buxar, the Chief Secretary Bihar, District Cooperative Officer, Buxar, Joint Registrar Cooperative, the State Election Authority, Patna through emails complaining about the illegal and arbitrary action of the Block Development Officer-cum-Election Officer, Nawanagar. All these documents have been brought on record by way of Annexure-P/3 series. Learned counsel for the petitioner further submitted that although the petitioner has alternative remedy for challenging the said illegal act of the Election Officer, Nawanagar but the petitioner has consciously chosen the remedy of filing writ jurisdiction for issuance of writ of mandamus for directing and commanding the respondent authorities especially the Block Development Officer-cumElection Officer, Nawanagar to accept the nomination paper of the petitioner dated 10.01.2025 so that the petitioner could contest the election for the post of Chairman, Giridhar Baraon PACS, Block- Nawanagar under the District- Buxar.
The rest of the document can be viewed at https://patnahighcourt.gov.in/viewjudgment/MTUjNzMyIzIwMjUjMSNO-30kLufKrZ5c=
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
