Court No. - 25
Case :- WRIT - C No. - 14990 of 2018 Petitioner :- Brijesh Kumar Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 4 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sheetal Verma,Devesh Kumar Verma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.
Hon'ble Siddhartha Varma,J.
The order reveals that the election petition was filed on 9.8.2016. Two years have passed since then but the election petition has not been decided till date. It is making a mockery of the proceedings. Issues were framed on 10.7.2017. Why the election petition has not been decided is a matter of concern. Rule-4 of the Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Raj (Settlement of Election Disputes) Rules, 1994 provides as to how a petition has to be heard. It has been provided under Rule 4(v) of the Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Raj (Settlement of Election Disputes) Rules, 1994 that the District Magistrate at any stage can transfer a case to any other Sub-divisional Officer.
"4(v) The District Magistrate may at any stage, on sufficient cause being shown, transfer an application made under sub-section (1) of the Section 12-C for hearing to another Sub-Divisional Officer."
In Rule 4 (v) of the Uttar Pradesh Zila Panchayats (Settlement of Disputes Relating to Membership) Rules, 1994 it has been provided that the District Magistrate at any stage on sufficient cause being shown may transfer any case under Section 12-C of the U.P. Panchayat Raj Act, 1947 for hearing to another Sub- divisional Officer. Transfer should not only be done at the instance of the parties but if the District Magistrate feels that the Sub-divisional Officer in any manner has too much administrative work then he can transfer a given case to some officer who can expeditiously decide the election petition. In an election petition the fates of both the winning candidate and the loosing candidate hang in balance.
Therefore, a direction is being issued that the election petition may be decided within a period of two months from the date of presentation of a certified copy of this order. If the District Magistrate of the District feels that the Sub-divisional Officer has too much of administrative work at his hand then he may transfer it to any other Sub-divisional Officer who can deal with the matter expeditiously.
The writ petition is disposed of.
Order Date :- 25.4.2018/Ashish Pd.