IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) THURSDAY, THE SECOND DAY OF APRIL TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE V.ESWARAIAH and THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION No.6986 of 2009 Between: Vakkanti Madhusudan Rao (Freedom Fighter), S/o. Venkaiah R/o. H.No.1-117/1, Sai Nagar Colony, Chaitanyapuri, Dilsukhnagar, Hyderabad. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 Chief Electoral Officer, Election Commission of A.P., Hyderabad. 2 District Election Officer, Hyderabad District, Hyderabad. 3 The Electoral Registration Officer, Malakpet Assembly Constituency, Hyderabad. 4 The Electoral Registration Officer, L.B. Nagar Assembly Constituency, Ranga Reddy District. .....RESPONDENT(S) Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court may be pleased to issue a writ, order or direction more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the 3rd and 4th respondent in not correcting petitioner name in electors rolls and voter identity cards for ensuing assembly and parliamentary constituencies as illegal, irregular, arbitrary and contrary to the provisions of the representation of the people act, and the registration of Electors Rules, 1960 and unconstitutional and consequently direct the respondent authorities to receive the application and correct the entries in electors rolls and identity cards for casting petitioners vote in ensuing general elections. Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.K.SANGAN NAIDU Counsel for the Respondent No.: MR.V.V.PRABHAKARA RAO The Court made the following : THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE V.ESWARAIAH and THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION No.6986 of 2009 ORDER: (per the Hon’ble Sri Justice V. Eswaraiah) This writ petition is filed seeking a direction to the Electoral Registration Officer, Malakpet Assembly Constituency, Hyderabad and the Electoral Registration Officer, L.B.Nagar Assembly Constituency, Ranga Reddy District, to correct the petitioner’s name in the electoral rolls and to issue a voter’s identity card to enable him to cast his vote in the ensuing Assembly and Parliamentary elections, in accordance with the provisions of the Representation of People Act, 1950 (for short “the R.P.Act”) and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. It is the case of the petitioner that he is a senior citizen and freedom fighter aged about 79 years. A voter’s identity card was issued to him by the Election Commission of India bearing Card No.JJK6014021 in the year 2007, but it is stated that in the said identity card his name was wrongly printed as “V.MASHUSUDHAN RAO” instead of “VAKKANTI MADHUSUDAN RAO”. On noticing the said mistake, he immediately approached the 3rd respondent to correct his name in the voter’s identity card and also in the electoral rolls of the Assembly and Parliamentary Constituency. But, the 3rd respondent declined to rectify the said mistake. It is stated that as per Rule 13(3) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, he submitted a duly filled Form-8 for correction of his name in the electoral rolls well within the time, but without any justification whatsoever, his request has not been considered. It is not known on which date the petitioner filed an application for correction of the alleged mistake in the electoral rolls. There is no date or acknowledgment in proof of filing of such application. However, we are of the opinion that under Section 23(3) of the RP Act, no amendment, transposition or deletion of any entry nor any direction for inclusion of a name in the electoral roll of a constituency shall be given after the last date for making nominations for an election in that constituency or in the parliamentary constituency. The vote of the petitioner falls within the L.B.Nagar Assembly Constituency and Parliamentary Constituency. For both Assembly and Parliamentary constituency elections, the last date for filing nominations is already over by 30-03-2009. Therefore, in view of the statutory bar under Section 23(3) of the R.P.Act either for correction, amendment or issuance of such direction, we are of the opinion that the petitioner is not entitled for any relief as prayed for. At this stage, the learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner apprehends that he may not be permitted to exercise his franchise. We are unable to accept the said submission, as the petitioner has been given an identity card by the Election Commission of India with his photograph. We are confident that no polling authority would prevent the petitioner from exercising his franchise given the entry of his name in the electoral rolls and the identity card issued to him, merely because of the misspelling of his name. Accordingly, the writ petition is disposed of. There shall be no order as to costs. ________________ V.ESWARAIAH, J __________________ SANJAY KUMAR, J Date : 02-04-2009 Note: Issue C.C. in one week (B/o) Prv ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1) 2 CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{MSN}