Statutory time computation for objections upheld where one month was counted by excluding the start date and including the last day.

A one-month objection period for proposed municipal ward delimitation satisfied Section 14(2) of the Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 1959, because objections were required to be filed within a period of not less than one month, not after the expiry of a fuller interval. The court distinguished between statutes requiring action after a stated period and those requiring action within a stated period, holding that in the latter class the first day is excluded and the last day included unless the statute clearly requires exclusion of both terminal days. The notification was therefore valid, the election challenge failed, and the contrary view was disapproved.

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Issues: Whether the notification inviting objections to the proposed delimitation of municipal wards satisfied the requirement of Section 14(2) of the Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 1959 that objections be filed within a period of not less than one month, and whether the election could be invalidated on the ground that the prescribed period was computed incorrectly.

Analysis: The provision was construed as requiring the Government to fix a period for objections that was not shorter than one month, while objections had to be filed within that prescribed period. The Court distinguished between cases where an act can be done only after the expiry of a stated period and cases where an act must be done within a stated period. In the latter class, the first day is excluded in computation, but the last day is included unless the statutory language shows a clear intention to exclude both terminal days. On that construction, a period of one month from the date of notification was held to satisfy the statutory requirement.

Conclusion: The notification was valid and did not violate Section 14(2) of the Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 1959. The contrary view was disapproved, and the challenge to the election failed.

Final Conclusion: The appeals succeeded, the judgment setting aside the election was overturned, and the writ petition stood dismissed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statute requires objections to be filed within a period of not less than one month, a period of one month computed by excluding the date of the notification but including the last day is sufficient unless the statute clearly requires both terminal days to be excluded.

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