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Kameng Dolo v. Atum Welly

Civil Appeal · 2017 INSC 461Decided 9 May 2017
Civil Appeal No. 2991 of 2017
Justice Dipak Misra · Justice A.M. Khanwilkar

Background

In an Arunachal Pradesh legislative assembly constituency with only two candidates, the respondent's nomination was shown as withdrawn through a Form V allegedly never delivered by him, his proposer, or his authorised election agent, resulting in the appellant being declared elected unopposed. The respondent, upon learning of this while away campaigning, filed a police complaint alleging forgery and then an Election Petition before the Gauhati High Court, arguing that the statutory procedure under Section 37 of the Representation of the People Act for withdrawing a candidature had not been followed. The High Court agreed, held the withdrawal invalid, and declared the appellant's election void under Section 100(1)(d)(iv) of the Act, prompting this appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that Section 37 of the Representation of the People Act is drafted in plain, unambiguous language and requires strict compliance: a candidature can only be withdrawn by the candidate personally, or by a proposer or election agent specifically authorised in writing, and the Returning Officer must independently verify the genuineness of the withdrawal notice and the identity of the person delivering it. Relying on a Constitution Bench precedent (Vishwanatha Reddy), the Court reasoned that when there are only two candidates and one is wrongly treated as having withdrawn in violation of statutory safeguards, there is in substance no real contest or election at all, since the safeguards exist precisely to protect the integrity of the electoral process. Finding that the evidence showed the statutory withdrawal procedure had not been properly followed, the Court upheld the High Court's finding that the election was void, dismissing the appeal with no order as to costs.

Lesson Learnt

Election law safeguards around withdrawing a candidacy are not mere formalities: they must be followed to the letter, especially in a two-candidate contest, because an improperly accepted withdrawal effectively deprives voters of any real choice and can void the entire election.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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