1 BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT DATED : 24.11.2011 CORAM THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE V. RAMASUBRAMANIAN W.P.(MD)No.12543 of 2011 And M.P.(MD) No.1 of 2011 I.Jothiyammal : Petitioner vs. 1.The Chief Election Commissioner, Tamil Nadu State Election Commission, 100 Feet Road, Vadapalani, Chennai. 2.The Chief Election Officer cum District Collector, Madurai District. 3.The Election Officer cum The Revenue Divisional Officer, Madurai District. 4.The Assistant Returning Officer cum District Revenue Officer, Madurai District. 5.The Block Development Officer, Madurai District. :Respondents Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, praying for the issue of a Writ of Mandamus, directing the respondents herein to issue the Certificate with regard to declaration of result of election as well as the Certificate of successful candidate to the petitioner in respect of the post of President to the Vadapalanji Village Panchayat, Madurai Central, Madurai District. For Petitioner : Mr.A.Saravanan For Respondents : Mr.K.Mahendran, Special Government Pleader. O R D E R The petitioner has come up with the above writ petition, seeking a Mandamus, directing the respondents to declare him as the successful candidate in the election to the post of President of Vadapalanji Village Panchayat. 2. Heard Mr.A.Saravanan, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr.K.Mahendran, learned Special Government Pleader for the respondents. 3. The petitioner contested in the elections held on 17.10.2011 for the post of President of Vadapalanji Panchayat. Five other candidates also contested. The votes were counted on 21.10.2011 and a candidate by name V.Vimala had been issued with a Certificate for having been elected as the President. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 2 4. But it appears that in the website of the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission, the votes polled by all candidates were reflected and it revealed that the petitioner had secured the highest number of votes. The website of the Election Commission showed that the petitioner secured 1,244 votes and got elected while the rival candidate V.Vimala had secured 1,187 votes. There were two candidates who lost their deposits and another candidate who was not elected. Therefore, on the basis of the results reflected in the website of the Election Commission, the petitioner has come up with the above writ petition. 5. In view of the results displayed in the website of the Election Commission, I ordered notice to the respondents and also passed an order on 11.11.2011, directing the respondents to produce the relevant Forms. Today, Mr.K.Mahendran, learned Special Government Pleader produced Form No.23 and Form No.25. Form No.23 shows that V.Vimala secured 1,298 votes and the petitioner had secured 501 votes. Form No.25 issued to the rival candidate is also produced. 6. It is seen from the copy of the web page down loaded by the petitioner that the total number of votes polled in the area was 4,621 and the number of votes taken as valid were 4,428. The website discloses that 193 votes were invalidated. Form No.23 produced by the learned Special Government Pleader also confirms this. Even as per Form No.23, the total number of votes polled were 4,621, out of which 193 votes were declared invalid. Therefore, there is no discrepancy between Form No.23 as well as the results disclosed by the web page in so far as the total number of votes polled, the total number of votes declared invalid and the total number of votes declared as valid. But in so far as the votes secured by the individuals are concerned, there is lot of variation. The variation can be seen from the following table:- S.No. Name Votes as per the website page Votes as per Form No.23 1 V.Vimala 1,187 1,298 2 M.Ananthavalli 299 1,015 3 Jothiyammal 1,244 501 4 P.Jeyanthi 17 17 5 R.Ananthavalli 762 786 6 J.Indira 919 811 7. The learned Special Government Pleader submitted that the discrepancy appears to have happened on account of the wrong feeding of information in the computer. However, the total number of votes polled and declared valid and invalid have remained the same. 8. The learned Special Government Pleader also produced a working sheet relating to each of the tables. But unfortunately, a discrepancy had crept in, between the results shown in the website and what is recorded. In view of the same, the learned Special Government Pleader fairly conceded that the respondents are not averse to the idea of a recount, in order to demonstrate that what had happened was only a bona fide mistake. https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 3 9. In view of the above, the writ petition is disposed of, directing the respondents to have a recount of the votes polled for election to the post of President Vadapalanji Panchayat, after getting directions from the first respondent herein. The recounting of the votes shall take place, in the presence of the petitioner as well as all other candidates in the Collectorate at Madurai. The petitioner shall be permitted to be accompanied by his counsel at the time of recounting. The first respondent shall ensure that the recounting is done, within a period of two weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. The first respondent shall ensure that prior notice is issued to the petitioner and the other candidates before the date of recounting. 10. The writ petition is disposed of on the above terms. No costs. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petition is closed. SD ASST REGISTRAR ( CO ) /TRUE COPY/ SUB ASST REGISTRAR Svn To 1.The Chief Election Commissioner, Tamil Nadu State Election Commission, 100 Feet Road, Vadapalani, Chennai. 2.The Chief Election Officer cum District Collector, Madurai District. 3.The Election Officer cum The Revenue Divisional Officer, Madurai District. 4.The Assistant Returning Officer cum District Revenue Officer, Madurai District. 5.The Block Development Officer, Madurai District. 1CC TO MR. A. SARAVANAN, ADVOCATE, SR: 41365: DM:2011:NOV:25:: W.P.(MD)No.12543 of 2011 24-11-2011 3P:7C:: https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/