Limitation under election law excludes the date of election when computing the forty-five-day period for filing a petition.

Section 81(1) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 requires an election petition to be presented within forty-five days from the date of election of the returned candidate, and Section 67A treats that date as the date of declaration of election. Section 9 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 applies the settled rule that, where time runs from a specified point, the first day is excluded unless a contrary intention appears. As Section 81(1) contains no contrary indication, the date of election is excluded in computing limitation, and a petition filed on that date is within time.

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Issues: Whether, for computing the forty-five day limitation under Section 81(1) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the date of election of the returned candidate is to be excluded by applying Section 9 of the General Clauses Act, 1897.

Analysis: Section 81(1) prescribes that an election petition may be presented within forty-five days from the date of election of the returned candidate, and Section 67A defines the date of election as the date of declaration of the candidate as elected. Section 9 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 embodies the settled rule that, where a period runs from a specified point of time, the first day is excluded and the last day included unless a contrary intention appears. The words used in Section 81(1) do not indicate any contrary intention. The statutory scheme therefore permits exclusion of the date of election when reckoning limitation, while a petition filed on that date would in any event be within time.

Conclusion: The date of election of the returned candidate is to be excluded in computing limitation under Section 81(1), and the election petition filed on 12.1.1999 was within time.

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