Dilip Kumar Gon v. Durga Prasad Singh

SARKARIA, J. Durga Prasad Singh, respondent herein, Khatir Ali .and Abdul Hamid, filed their nomination papers before the Returning Officer for contesting the election to the Bihar Legislative Assembly from 147-Jamtara. Assembly Constituency (General). The date for scrutiny of the nomination papers was February 9, 1972. The Re­ turning Officer rejected th1~ nomination papers of Khatir) Ali and Abdul Hamid ignoring the objections that were raised on their behalf. Durga Prasad Singh was declared duly elected. o. K. GON v. o. P. SINGH (Sarkaria, 1.) 571 The appellant, an elector of the Constituency, filed an Election Petition challenging the election of Durga Prasad Singh inter alia on the ground that the nomination papers of Abdul Hamid and Khatir Ali had been improperly rejected. A learned single Judge of the High Court, who tried the Petition decided that issue against the petitioner, and in consequence, dismissed the Petition. Hence this appeal. Before us, Mr. R. K. Garg, learned Counsel for the appellant has confined his arguments to the rejection of the nomination paper of Abdul Hamid, only. It is submitted that the defect on the basis of which the Re.turning Officer rejected Abdul Ha!Ijid's nomination papers, was not a 'defect' 'in the eye of law. At any rate, proceeds the argument,. it was not a defect of a substantial character which could jµstify rejection of the nomination papers. There is merit in this contention. What happened was that in the column of the printed nomination form, meant for making a declaration of the candidates' of the Sche­ duled Caste/Tribe contesting for a Reserved Seat, Abdul Hamid had not (a) filled his specific caste in the bank meant for that purpose and further, (b) he had in that column, left the words 'Scheduled Caste' unscored. The Returning Officer rejected the nomination papers on the ground that the failure of the candidate to delete the words 'Scheduled Caste' means that "he belongs to Scheduled Caste which is not true" said consequently, "the nomination papers are not filled up properly". · The learned Judge of the High Court upheld this rejection, hold­ ing that "the candidate's filling of these entries were on the face of it, not proper and did not comply with the requirements of law on this subject" and further that this defect was not "trivial or technical" but · of a substantial character. In our opinion, in the circumstances of the case, the rejection of the nomination papers of Abdul Hamid was manifestly erroneous. The High Court's view that in scoring out only the word 'Jan-Jati' (Tribe) and leaving the word 'Jati' (caste) untouched in the aforesaid column of the nomination form, Abdul Hamid had failed "to comply with the requirement of the law on the subject" was entirely mis­ conceived. It overlooked the fact that the Jamtara Constituency was a 'General' Constituency, and the seat for whkh the candidates wanted to contest the election was not a Reserved seat. Section 33 (2) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, or any other statutory provision does not enjoin upon a candidate who is contesting the election for a General Seat, and not for a Reserved seat, to specify in his declaration his caste or tribe. Further, the Returning Officer appearing as R. W. 2, had clearly admitted that at the time of the . scrutiny of the nomination papers, he was aware that Abdul Hamid was not a member of the Scheduled Caste and that he had deposited Rs. 250/. as security. The omission to strike off the column in the printed nomination form relating to Scheduled Caste/Tribe did not amount to a defect in the eye of law, much less was it a defect 0f a substantial character, warranting rejection-· of the nomination paper. 572 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1975] 2 S.C.R. In Amolak Chand v.· Ragh~1veer Singh,(I) the nomination papers of two candidates contesting for a General Constituency were ·rejected on a similar ground. Hollding that the rejection was improper, Rama­ swami J. speaking for the Court stated the law. on the pomt thus : "The printed form 2-A is meant both for General and Reserved Constituen,cies but while it is obligatory for candi­ dates in the reserved cc1ns~ituency to make a declaration in the proper column that he is a member of a particular caste or tribe, there is no1 such rule with re~rd to General Con­ stituency. · Section 33 (2) of the Act imposes an obligation on the candidate in thie reserved constitueqcy to make a dQclaration in the proper column, but there is 1~0 such direc­ tion in th~ .statute with ~egard to the Gener11l Const~tuency. In our opm10n, the mention of the caste of the candidate m the nomination form was a clear superfluity because it was not necessary for th1~ candidate to fill in the column when he was contesting in a General Constituency .. " In the light of what has been said above, we would, reverse the finding of the High Court and hold that the nomination papers of Abdul Hamid were improperly rejected by the Returning Officer. In the result, we would on this short ground, allow this appeal and the Election Petition and declare the election of Durga Prasad Singh, Respondent herein to be void. The appellant shall have his costs throughout V. P. S. Appeal allowed. (1) [1968) 3 S.C.R. 246. n