Election petition limitation runs to the end of the last day; procedural rules cannot cut down statutory time.

An election petition presented on the last day of the 45-day limitation period after court hours was treated as valid when the designated Judge was still available and the petitioner had done all that was required to present it. The limitation period was held to run until the expiry of the final day, unless the governing law clearly provides otherwise. High Court procedural rules could not curtail the substantive statutory period, and the receipt of the petition was treated as a ministerial act rather than a condition defeating a timely filing.

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Issues: Whether an election petition presented on the last day of limitation, after court hours but while the designated Judge was still available within the court , was a valid presentation within time under the governing law and High Court Rules.

Analysis: The constitutional and statutory scheme requires an election petition to be presented within forty-five days, and the computation of limitation runs up to the expiry of the last day, i.e. until midnight unless the law clearly provides otherwise. Rules made by the High Court under its procedural power cannot curtail the substantive period of limitation fixed by the Act. The presentation requirement under the High Court Rules was treated as a procedural mechanism for convenient processing, not as a restriction that could defeat a petition filed within the statutory day. The receiving of an election petition was held to be a ministerial act, and the petitioner had done all that was within his power when he attempted presentation on the last day.

Conclusion: The presentation was valid and within limitation; the dismissal of the election petition as time-barred was incorrect, and the appeal succeeded.

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