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13. As per established procedure, in case of uncontested election, result is to be declared forthwith in Form 5 annexed with 1994 Rules. In the case of a contested election after conclusion of counting of votes, result is to be declared in Form 9 of the forms annexed with the 1994 Rules.

As per ratio of the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Kishansing Tomar v. Municipal Corporation of the City of Ahmedabad and others, (2006) 8 SCC 352, the Hon'ble Supreme Court held that in terms of Article 243K and Article 243ZA(1), the powers of the State Election Commission are akin to the powers of Election Commission of India under Article 324 of the Constitution of India. It was further held that from a reading of the above said provisions, it is clear that the power of the State Election Commission, in respect of conduct of election is no less than the Election Commission of India in their respective domains. These powers are, of course, subject to the law made by the Parliament or by the State Legislature provided the same do no encroach upon the plenary powers of the State Election Commissions.

Reading of the ratio of the judgment, mentioned above, clearly indicates that the power of the Election Commission is wide enough to include all powers which are necessary to conduct fair and free elections. However, powers of the Election Commission are subject to any law made by the State Legislature. In what circumstances, the State Election Commission has the power to countermand, postpone and defer an election, are clearly mentioned. It is also amply clear that in the case of uncontested election result has to be declared forthwith and in the case of contested election result has to be declared on conclusion of counting of the votes.

Therefore, keeping in view the aforesaid provisions of the Act and discussion it is concluded that once the number of candidates is equal to the number of seats to be filled up, meaning thereby that there is an uncontested election, then the Returning Officer is required to forthwith declare all such candidates to be duly elected to fill those seats by issuance of declaration of the result, which may be either in Form V or Form IX. In case where a contest takes place then the Returning Officer after the counting of the votes and in the absence of any directions of the Election Commission to the contrary, since the questions of adjournment/ countermanding of the election on the ground of emergencies/ destruction of ballot boxes, booth capturing etc. can crop up, is required to declare the result in statutory Form IX. In our opinion, it is thus clear that once the declaration of result, either in Form V or in Form IX in case of uncontested election and in Form IX in case of a contested election, has been issued/recorded by the Returning Officer then there can be no question of countermanding the election and tinkering with the result by the State Election Commission or any other authority including the Returning Officer on the ground of improper rejection or acceptance of the nomination papers or any other illegality committed by the Returning Officer (as alleged in the present two cases). The only remedy available to a candidate is to file an Election Petition under Section 76 on the grounds mentioned in Section 89 of the Punjab State Election Commission Act,1994."