Next > IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 30TH DAY OF OCTOBER 2019 BEFORE THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE S. SUNIL DUTT YADAV WRIT PETITION No.50195/2019 (LB-RES) Between:
Smt. Nandini, W/o Kemparaju, Aged about 27 years, R/o Tirumale, Magadi Town, Magadi Taluk, Ramanagara – 562 120. … Petitioner (By Sri Bharath Kumar V., Advocate) And:
1. Election Commission of India, Having Office at:
Nirvachana Bhavan, Ashoka Road, New Delhi – 110 001 By its Commissioner.
2. Karnataka State Election Commission, K.S.M.F.C. Building, No.8, 1st Floor, Cunningham Road, Vasantha Nagar, Bangalore – 560 052 Represented by its Commissioner.
3. Returning Officer, Magadi Town Municipality Constituency, Ramanagara District – 562 120. … Respondents (By Sri Dodawad, Advocate for R1;
Smt. Vaishali Hegde, Advocate for R2; Smt. Prathima Honnapura, AGA for R3) This Writ Petition is filed under Articles 226 & 227 of the Constitution of India, praying to direct the R1 herein, to include the name of the petitioner herein as a registered voter of Magadi Town Municipality Constituency, Ramanagara District (Vide Annexure-A) and etc.
This Writ Petition coming on for Preliminary Hearing this day, the Court made the following:
ORDER Sri. S. R. Dodawad accepts notice for respondent no.1 Smt. Vaishali Hegde accepts notice for respondent no.2.
Learned AGA accepts notice for respondent no.3.
The petitioner who is stated to be the registered voter of Magadi Town Municipality Constituency, Ramanagara District has sought for issuance of appropriate writ to direct the respondent no.1 to include the name of the petitioner as a registered voter of Magadi Town Municipality Constituency.
2. The learned counsel for petitioner states that she has been a resident of the said constituency and has produced the documents including the Aadhar Card issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India and other documents at Annexure-‘B’ series to evidence her residence. It is submitted that the petitioner was a fresh voter and found that her name was not included within the list of eligible voters of the said constituency. Insofar as the application of the petitioner, it is submitted that as per the endorsement on Form – VI vide Annexure-‘A’, recommendation was made by the competent authority to include the name of the petitioner in the Electoral List. Upon instructions, the learned counsel appearing for respondent no.1 submits that the claim of the petitioner to be included in the light of recommendation found on Form –VI at Annexure-‘A’ has been accepted.
3. The learned counsel appearing for the Election Commission of India points out to the Notification dated 12th October 2019 and submits that the Voters Verification Programme is under way and it is only after the present survey, verification and authentication is completed, the Voters-Photo Identity Card would be issued. The last date for final publication of the electoral roll for the States other than Delhi is 20th January 2020. Hence, it is submitted that the petitioner has to wait till the last date to obtain copy of the Voters-Photo Identity Card. It is also to be noted that insofar as election to the City Municipal Council is concerned, inclusion into the voters list is permitted till the last date for making nomination for election to such wards as per the second proviso to Section 14 of the Karnataka Municipalities Act, 1964. It is also pertinent to note that the same condition is found in Section 23 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. In the light of the above statutory provision of the Karnataka Municipalities Act as well as the Representation of the People Act and noting the recommendation on Form-VI at Annexure-‘A’ and also taking note of the submission of the counsel for the Election commission of India that the claim of the petitioner to be included in the Voters List is accepted, the plea of the petitioner requires to be accepted.
4. It is to be noted that the last date for filing the nomination is 31.10.2019 and the Returning Officer is to take note of the observations made above and accept the nomination if other legal compliances are in order. Accordingly, the petition is disposed of directing respondent No.3 to accept the nomination of the petitioner, provided the other legal requirements relating to the nomination are fulfilled.
A copy of the order be furnished to the learned counsel appearing for the State.
Next >