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"78. Every election to the Senate, the Executive and Academic Councils or any other authority or Body of the University shall be held by ballot according to the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote, and as prescribed by the Statutes."

Therefore, the elections to these Bodies will have to be held by proportional representation. For carrying out the purposes of the Act in this behalf certain Statutes have been framed. Statute 33 deals with nomination. Clause I of the said Statute provides that the provisions of Statute 34 deals with administrative machinery for the conduct of election. Statute 35 then deals with the right and manner of voting. Sub-clause (2) of Statute 35 lays down that at every election where a poll is taken, vote shall be cast by ballot in such manner as may be prescribed. Then clause 3 lays down that each elector shall have one vote only. It also provides for the mode of voting. Sub-clause (4) then lays down that no vote shall be cast by proxy. Then comes Statute 36 which deals with voting by post. The relevant provisions of this Statute on which reliance is placed by the learned counsel for the petitioner read as under:

7. In the present case we are concerned with the elections by the Senate on the Executive Council of the University and to Board of Extra Mural Studies from amongst the members of the Senate. The Senate is one of the authorities of the University referred to in Section 19 of the Act. How the Senate is to function is provided by Section 21 of the Act. The Body like the Senate is different from the persons of which it is composed. Section 21 contemplates that the Body will carry out its functions in a meeting. The word "meeting" prima facie connotes coming together of persons for certain purposes. n substance, it is a gathering of persons with a specific object in view. To hold elections is an important function of the annual meeting of the Senate. Voting is one of the well known legal methods to ascertain the will of the members present at the meeting. If this is so, by necessary implication it will have to be held that he persons present at the meeting alone will have a right of voting unless voting by proxy is specifically provided. As already observed, the voting by proxy is prohibited. In this view of the matter, in our opinion, if a person is not present in a meeting, he cannot take part in the deliberations of the meeting and consequently in the voting.

9. So far as the other Statutes are concerned, including Statutes 34, 35 and 36, it has not been laid down n any of these Statutes that the provisions of the said Statutes shall also apply to all the elections held under the Act of 1974. In Statute 36 a reference is made to Statute 34. It is not disputed before us that Statute 34 will have no application to the present elections. The present elections are being held in the meeting of the Senate. Therefore, the question of fixing of the places ect. of the elections will not arise. Statute 35, as already stated, deals with right and manner of voting and Statute 36 provides for voting by post. While construing the provisions of an Act and the Statutes, it is well settled that no undue importance can be attached to the stray words used here and there, but the Statute should be construed and read as a whole. If Statute 36 is read as a whole, it provides internal guidelines for its construction. Clause 1 of the said Statute provides for voting by postal ballot when a person is a member of the Armed Forces, or he is under preventive detention, or he is not ordinarily residing within the University area or when he ordinarily resides outside the area of any posing centre. From the bare reading of this Statute as a whole, it is obvious that this Statute will have no application to the elections which are being held in a meeting, because in that case a question of polling centre etc. cannot arise. Further, apart from the provisions of Statute 36, it is obvious from the substantive provisions of the Act that the Legislature intended that the various elections to the Executive Council or to the Board of Extra Mural Studies should be by the Senate, though from amongst its members. The provisions of the Act contemplate volition of the Senate as a whole and not of its individual members; though voting is one of the well known legal methods of expressing opinion or indicating choice. Election by ballot is one of such recognised modes of choosing persons by ascertaining the will of the members present at the meeting. The Senate is constituted under Section 20 of the Act and includes ex officio members, elected members and other members. Then Section 21 deals with the meeting of the Senate. Section 21 lays down that the Senate has to meet twice a year on the dates to be fixed by the Chancellor and one of the two meetings shall be an annual meeting of the Senate. The meeting scheduled to be held on 21st February 1976 is an annual meeting of the Nagpur University Senate. Therefore, t is puttee clear from the bare reading of these various provisions that the elections to the Executive Council or to the Board of Extra Mural Studies by the Senate should be held in the meeting of the Senate itself. Once it is held that these elections are required to be held in the meeting of the Senate, then it is obvious that the provisions of Statute 36 will have no application to these elections. As to what procedure should be followed in conducting the business of the meeting is provided by Statute 45. Though the elections are governed by Section 78 of the Act, it is obvious that the lecterns contemn plated to be held being in the meeting, the persons present in the meeting alone can exercise their right of vote. Apart from the general provisions of law, statute 35 clearly lays down that no vote shall be cast by proxy. Voting by post is unknown when the election is to be held in the meeting itself.