Civil Writ Petition No.17555 of 2008 1 In the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, at Chandigarh. Civil Writ Petition No.17555 of 2008 (O&M) Date of Decision: 22.7.2010 Gyani Ram …Petitioner Versus State of Haryana and Others …Respondents CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE KANWALJIT SINGH AHLUWALIA. Present: Mr. R.K. Hooda, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. Himanshu Raj, Assistant Advocate General, Haryana, for respondents No.1 and 3. Mr. Arvind Singh, Advocate for respondent No.2. Mr.Raman B. Garg, Advocate for respondent No.4. Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia, J. (Oral) Civil Misc. No. 7708 of 2010 Civil Misc. Application is allowed. Exemption from filing of certified copies of Annexures P7 and P8 is granted to the petitioner. Civil Misc. No. 7709 of 2010 Civil Misc. Application is allowed. Replication along with Annexures are taken on record. Civil Writ Petition No.17555 of 2008 2 Civil Writ Petition No. 17555 of 2008 Petitioner Gyani Ram had contested the election of Municipal Committee, Kalayat, District Kaithal, from ward No.8 on 20.1.2008 and was declared successful. As per the provisions contained in Sections 13D and 13E of Haryana Municipal Act, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as “1973 Act”), a duty was cast upon the petitioner to mention his expenditure account from the date of filing of nomination papers till the declaration of the result. The period prescribed for filing accounts of election expenditure was 30 days. It is not disputed that the petitioner had to file return of his election expenditure on or before 20.2.2008 but he failed to do so. A show cause notice was issued to him. He even failed to respond to the same. Finally, the petitioner filed his election expenditure statement on 19.5.2008. Since the petitioner has filed expenditure statement after a delay of more than 90 days, vide impugned order dated 30.3.1998 (Annexure P6), he was disqualified for a period of three years and his seat was declared as vacant. The petitioner approached this Court. A Division Bench of this Court while issuing notice of motion, passed the following order:- “...Counsel for the petitioner contends that as a fact, the petitioner has filed his election expenditure account on 19.5.2008, regarding the elections of the Municipal Committee, Kalayat, held on 20.1.2008, but the said filing of election expenditure account was delayed by 3/4 months. Counsel contends that the petitioner had duly explained the delay, because his elder brother, who was undergoing treatment, Civil Writ Petition No.17555 of 2008 3 had died, therefore, in these circumstances,the authorities instead of declaring the seat of the petitioner as vacant should have condoned the delay in filing the election expenditure account. Notice of motion for November 17, 2008. In the meanwhile, operation of the impugned order is stayed”. Learned counsel for the petitioner has relied upon a judgment rendered in Sat Pal v. State of Haryana and Others (Civil Writ Petition No. 4099 of 2009, decided on 17.3.2009) (Annexure P7) to contend that a Co-ordinate Bench of this Court had directed the State Election Commission to consider the case of the petitioner in that case. It is stated that Sat Pal was suffering from pneumonia and his Aunt (Bua) had expired and, therefore, for this reason he could not file accounts of election expenditure within the specified time. Learned counsel further relied upon an order dated 15.7.2006 (Annexure P8) to contend that on reconsideration, the State Election Commission, Haryana, had condoned the delay in fling of the accounts of election expenditure and notice of disqualification was also filed. Learned counsel further submitted that the case of the petitioner is on better footing as his brother was suffering from Hepatitis-E who died during the interregnum period. Therefore, he has a justifiable cause. After hearing learned counsel for the parties, this Court is of the view that once the State Election Commission, Haryana, has exercised its power to condone the delay in case of Sat Pal, the petitioner cannot be treated differently. The power to condone the delay Civil Writ Petition No.17555 of 2008 4 vests in the State Election Commission. As per learned counsel for the petitioner, it has been exercised in a number of cases. This Court cannot become oblivious of the fact that there was delay of three months on the part of the petitioner to furnish the return of election accounts. The petitioner has reasonably explained that his brother was suffering from Hepatitis-E, a life threatening disease, due to which lateron he had died. Therefore, he could not file his return of election expenditure within the specified time. The will of the people, on technicality, cannot be ignored. Therefore, it is ordered that the State Election Commission, considering the observation made in this order, shall reconsider the entire matter sympathetically. Hence, the present writ petition is disposed of. The petitioner shall appear before the State Election Commission, Haryana, on 10.8.2010 and furnish all the documents, in support of contentions noticed in this order. The State Election Commission, Haryana, is directed to take a decision within a period of one month from the date of appearance of the petitioner. (Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia) Judge July 22, 2010 “DK”