Meghalaya High Court
Arjuma Begum & Anr. vs . State Of Meghalaya & 6 Ors. on 25 November, 2024
Author: H. S. Thangkhiew
Bench: H. S. Thangkhiew
Serial No. 01
Supplementary List
HIGH COURT OF MEGHALAYA
AT SHILLONG
WP(C) No. 433 of 2024 Date of Order: 25.11.2024
Arjuma Begum & Anr. Vs. State of Meghalaya & 6 Ors.
Coram:
Hon'ble Mr. Justice H. S. Thangkhiew, Judge
Appearance:
For the Petitioner/Appellant(s) : Mr. K. Paul, Sr. Adv. with
Mr. S.K. Hassan, Adv.
Mr. S. Chanda, Adv.
For the Respondent(s) : Mr. A. Kharwanlang,Addl.Sr.GA(ForR 1-5)
i) Whether approved for reporting in Yes/No Law journals etc.:
ii) Whether approved for publication
in press: Yes/No
1. Heard Mr. K. Paul, learned Senior counsel assisted by Mr. S.K. Hassan, learned counsel on behalf of the petitioners.
2. Issue notice.
3. Mr. A. Kharwanlang, learned Addl. Sr. GA is present and accepts notice on behalf of the respondents No. 1-5, so no further notice is required upon these respondents.
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4. Steps to issue to the respondents No. 6 and 7 by registered A/D within two days.
5. The issue in question is with regard to the elections that were held for Haripur VEC and the complaints of the writ petitioners are that, there were voters holding dual job cards, that is people who had shifted residence to another village who were allowed to take part in the said elections, and that proxy voting had also occurred in the said elections. The learned Senior counsel for the petitioners therefore prays that in this view of the matter, some interim orders are needed at this stage before approval is granted to the said VEC.
6. Mr. A. Kharwanlang, Addl. Senior GA for the respondents No. 1-5 submits that the elections have been held, as per the directions contained in the order dated 27.04.2022, and that the State respondents had taken all relevant factors into consideration to conduct the elections.
7. I have heard learned counsel for the parties, and on examination of a few of the documents which have been annexed namely job cards, the same substantiate the arguments made by the learned Senior counsel that there are persons who are holding dual job cards, who have probably been allowed to take part in the elections. Be that as it may, at this stage, some interim orders are called for.
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8. Accordingly, until the next date, no approval shall be given to the election results of Haripur VEC. As another matter on the same issue is pending consideration, list the same together on 4th December, 2024.
9. An area of concern that this Court has noted in these proceedings are that if there is no proper verification of job cards, the holding of dual job cards will mean that precious resources of the State are being defalcated in the name of developmental schemes of villagers.
10. List accordingly.
Judge Meghalaya 25.11.2024 "D.Thabah-PS"
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