Court Orders Reconsideration of Voters List Objections in Housing Society Elections.
01 March 2024
Elections Law >> Constitution & Law Procedure
In The Ashwamedh CHS Ltd. & Others Vs Suresh Khedkar & Ors., the petitioners (Nos. 3 to 17) and applicants in Intervention Application No. 2202 of 2024 have filed a writ petition challenging the wrongful removal of their names from the final voters list for the elections of Petitioner No. 1 Housing Society, a Type-E Society under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies (Election to Committee) Rules, 2014. The provisional voters list, published on January 25, 2024, initially included 71 members, but 33 names were later deleted from the final list, published on February 6, 2024, following objections raised against the exclusions.
The petitioners argue that this deletion was done improperly, violating Rule 8 of the Rules of 2014, which mandates that any objections to omissions or errors in the voters list should be resolved by the District Co-operative Election Officer, who is required to issue a written decision within 10 days. The District Co-operative Election Officer failed to provide such a decision, leading to the deletion of almost 50% of voters without due process.
After hearing the parties, the court directed that the objections to the deletions be reconsidered by an appropriate officer designated by the Respondent No. 2. This officer must hear the petitioners and interveners on March 5, 2024, and decide the matter by March 8, 2024. The court did not interfere with the election schedule but ordered that the process be rectified to ensure fairness.
The writ petition was disposed of with the above directions, with no order as to costs.