Limitation for election plea excludes date of declaration -- SC
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI, OCT 25: Supreme Court has ruled that the 45-day limitation period to challenge an election result by an elector or a returned candidate under the Representation of the People Act excludes the date of declaration of the result.

This ruling has been delivered by a three-judge bench of Chief Justice A S Anand, Justice R C Lahoti and Justice K G Balakrishnan while deciding a limited question whether the limitation period of 45 days to challenge an election includes the date of declaration of the result.

This issue, which often comes under challenge after elections, came before the apex court in an appeal filed by Madhya Pradesh MLA Tarun Prasad Chattarjee contending that the state High Court had erred in accepting a petition filed by returned candidate Dinanath Sahrama challenging his election just 45 days after the result was declared.

"The first day for the period of limitation is required to be excluded for the convenience of the parties and if the declaration of the result is delayed or is done late in the night, the candidate or the elector would hardly get any time for presentation of the election petition", the bench ruled while dismissing the appeal.

"The law comes to the rescue of such parties to give full 45 days for filing the election petition", the bench said making it clear that "any petition presented on the date of election of the returned candidate would be certainly within the period of limitation as it is a presentation on the date of election of the returned candidate".

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