TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1964 (3) TMI 99
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....ndar of events for the general election to the Belgaum Municipal Borough was duly published. As per that calendar, the last date for filing the nominations nsthe intending candidates was April 19, 1963. By that date, the petitioner in W.P. No. 714/63 filed his nominations for the ward No. 14, the petitioner in W.P. No. 715/63 for ward No. 4, the petitioners in W.P. Nos. 716 and 717 of 63 for ward No. 13 and the Petitioners in W.Ps. Nos. 718 and 719/63 for ward No. 16. On 23-4-1963, after scrutiny, the Returning Officer rejected the nominations of the petitioners mentioned above on the sole ground that they were not voters in the wards in which they sought election. In so deciding, he relied on the decision of this Court in Gadigeppa Gurupadappa Vadakkanvar's Case, (1963) 2 Mys. LJ 83. The Petitioner's appeal against the decision of the Returning Officer, to the Deputy Commissioner was unsuccessful. Thereafter, the petitioners moved this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution to quash the Orders rejecting their nominations. (3) It is not denied that the petitioners are registered as voters in the lists pertaining to their wards. But, their nominations have been rejec....
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.... to construe the Court may for assistance in its construction refer to rules made under the provisions of the Act, especially where such rules are by the statute authorising them directed to be read as part of the Act. For not only is every part of the Statute itself to be taken into consideration in order to ascertain the meaning of any obscure expression but "recourse may(also) be had to rules which have been made under the authority of the Act, if the construction of the Act is ambiguous and doubtful on any point, and if we find that in the rules any particular construction has been put on the Act, it is our duty to adopt and follow that construction." These rules form a sort of comtemporanea expositio." If the impugned rule is plainly opposed to any provisions in the "Act", then it has to be struck down whatever may be the formalities observed in framing the same. But, if the provisions in the "Act" which calls for interpretation is capable of two reasonable interpretations then that interpretation which accords with the impugned rule should be accepted because as mentioned earlier that rule forms a sort of contemporanea expositio. The Legislature which has enacted the "A....
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....elected at the election for any ward of the Municipal Borough." The key words are : "qualified to be elected at the election for any ward of the Municipal Borough" and "every person whose name is in the list of voters." If the words "qualified to be elected at the election for any ward at the Municipal Borough" mean that a person is qualified to be elected either in the ward in which his name is entered or any other ward, then that is what the impugned rule says. (8) The word "any" is a word which excludes limitation or qualification. It connotes wide generality. Its use points to distributive construction. (Vide Stroud's judicial Dictionary--see also Veeraswamy v. State of Andhra Pradesh, (FB).) In Pershad Singh v. Ram Pertab Roy, ILR 22 Cal 77 the expression "in any case" was interpreted as being qualified to "in every case". In Mooler v. North Eastern Breweries,(1910) I K B 247 the expression "any agreement to the contrary" was held to apply to any agreement whether made before or after the Act. In Keshaw v. Jairam, ILR 36 Bom 123 the Bombay High Court refused to apply the ejusdem generis principle in interpreting the word "any". From these decisions, it is clear that ....
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....section. The first and the foremost rule of construction of a statute is the rule of literal construction. It is only when that rule fails, other rules of construction are availed of. As observed in Jugalkishore Saraf v. M/S. Raw Cotton Co., Ltd., (S) AIR 1955 SC 376 the cardinal rule of construction of statutes is to read the statute literally, that is, by giving to the words used by the Legislature their ordinary, natural and grammatical meaning; if however, such a reading leads to absurdity and the words are susceptible of another meaning the Court may adopt the same; but, if no such alternative construction is possible, the Court must adopt the ordinary rule of literal interpretation. (9) I see no reason why that rule should be inapplicable to the facts of the present case. It was contended on behalf of the respondents that the rule of literal interpretation is inapplicable in the present case as there is conflict between the first and the last portions of S. 11A(2); while the first portion of that section refers to the person whose name is "in the list of voters" the last portion of that section says that he can stand as a candidate "in any ward of the Municipal Borough". I....
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....in sub-section (2). It may be noticed in sub-section (2) that there is no reference to section 11. Nor does that sub-section speak of 'the list pertaining to any ward." In my view, "the list" mentioned in sub-section (2) of S. 11 A refers to "the lists" pertaining to the wards of any particular Municipal Borough. But, there is no doubt sub-section is not happily worded. It is thought that there is any ambiguity, then we have to apply the rule of harmonious construction. We must reconcile the two portions of the sub-section. In so doing, it is not proper to ignore any word found therein. If we are to accept the contention of the respondents we must ignore the word "any". There is no justification for so doing. (12) After a careful examination of the relevant provisions in the "Act"and the "Rules", I have come to the conclusion that any person who is registered as a voter in any one of the wards of a Municipal Borough can stand as a candidate for election in any of the wards of that Borough. (13) The above conclusion of mine is opposed to the decision of this Court in Gadigeppa's case, (1963) 2 Mys LJ 83. Therein, a Bench of this Court struck down Rule 11(2) framed unde....
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....ledge that no person can be ordinarily a candidate for election unless he has also the right to vote at that election." Proceeding further, it observed: "The acceptance of the proposition of Mrs. Deshpande would be to recognise the possibility of a person being able to be a candidate without his being able to vote at the election. An interpretation leading to such consequences cannot, in my opinion, be a sound one." With great respect to the learned Judges, I do not think that the common knowledge is what is stated by them. The pattern of Election law in this country is just the opposite of what the learned Judges thought it to be. I requested the learned Counsel appearing for the respondents to show us a provision in any of the statutes bearing on Election in support of the view contended for by him. No such provision was brought to our notice. In this country, as far as I am aware, the general pattern of Election law is that while a person can vote only in the ward of a Municipal Council or Borough where he is registered as a voter, he can stand as a candidate in any of the wards of that Municipal Council or Borough. Same is the position as regards any constituency of a ....
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....whose name is not in such list shall not be qualified to vote, at the election of a member for the ward to which such list pertains. (2) Every person whose name is in the list of voters shall, unless disqualified under this Act or any other law for the tome being in force, be qualified to be elected, and every person whose name is not in such list shall not be qualified to be elected, at the election for any ward of the municipal borough. (3) Subject to any disqualification incurred by a person, the list of voters shall be conclusive evidence for the purpose of determining under this section whether the person is qualified or is not qualified to vote or is qualified or is not qualified to be elected, as the case may be, at any election. Rule 11(2): Any person whose name is entered in the list of voters for a ward as entitled to vote in that ward may (if duly qualified) be a candidate for election either in the ward for which his name is so entered or any other ward." (23) Sections 11 and 1A of the Bombay Municipal Boroughs Act correspond to Sections 12 and 13 of the Bombay District Municipal Act(III of 1901), and Rule 11 of the Bombay Borough Municipalities Election Rul....
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.... of sub-section (2) for nomination in the event of failure to elect full number of councillors. Section 10 requires the Government to determine the number of councillors and proceeds to state that the Government shall make rules dividing each municipal borough into several wards specifying the number and extent of the wards and also specifying the number of councillors to be elected by each ward. Section 11 requires the preparation and maintenance of a list of voters for each ward. There is no such thing as a general electoral roll for the entire municipal borough. Although headings and marginal notes do not control the clear effect of the languages of the sections, they are of some assistance in identifying the general topics dealt with by the statute. Viewed in that light, the headings of the relevant sections of the Boroughs Act are significant. The heading of Section 8 is "municipalities", and the heading of the group of sections consisting of Sections 9 to 17 I is 'Election of Councillors'. The Municipality is a body corporate in which the administration of the municipal borough is vested by the Act. It is to consist of councillors. The election is not to the munici....
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....n who discharge several functions like the upkeep of the highways, the relief of the poor, discouragement of vagrants, the carrying on of trade and industries in their respective areas. Statutes were from time to time passed prescribing the conditions for or restricting the activities of these various boroughs and other local authorities. Among them may be mentioned the Poor Law Amendment Act, 1834, the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835. In 1933 there was enacted the Local Government Act (23 &24 Geo. 5c. 51) consolidating the law relating to local Government outside London and amending various earlier statutes. Under that statute, England and Wales excluding London were for the purposes of local government divided into administrative countries and country boroughs with further sub-divisions in each category like urban districts, rural districts, parishes, etc. Under this statute, various local bodies are constituted into corporate bodies with a perpetual succession and a common seal and various offices or authorities of local government like mayor, eldermen, councillors, are called corporate offices. The statute also makes provision for ward by ward election of councillors. Sec....
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.... could be no difficulty in reading the expression 'the list of voters' occurring at the commencement of the second sub-section as referring to the very list which pertains to the ward in question, especially because the only list of voters known to the statute and prepared under S. 11 is the list pertaining to each ward for the time being under reference. Indeed, the entire S. 11A must in the light of the scheme be taken as dealing with both the right to vote and the right to get elected in relation to one and the same ward. (35) The use of the expression 'any ward' towards the end of the second sub-section of S. 11A does not, in my opinion, render the above interpretation unacceptable. 'Any ward', in my opinion, merely means 'a ward' or 'a given ward' or 'a ward which is for the time being taken up for consideration.' Even assuming that 'any ward' may mean 'every ward' the word 'every' could only mean a single ward and not more wards than one. Neither the expression 'any ward' nor the expression 'every ward' can, in my opinion, be treated as equivalent to either "any ward" or "every other wa....
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....itself, as pointed out in Craise, is subject to certain limitations. Where the vires of the rule itself is questioned on the ground that it is inconsistent with the statute or repugnant to the statute, to rely upon the impugned rule itself as a guide for the interpretation of the statute would in effect mean that the rule is the principal legislation and the statute the subsidiary one, and may lead in conceivable circumstances to a position is that statutory rule can ever be declared invalid. The correct legal or constitutional position is that statutory rule are a species of subordinate or delegated legislation and nonetheless so even if the procedure for making those rules requires them to be placed, on the table of the legislature may, if it thinks fit, alter or rescind them and even if the statute provides that on being duly promulgated rules are to be read as part of the statute. One of the recognised limits of a valid delegation of legislative power is that the essential and fundamental policy of legislation must be declared by the Legislature itself, and it could validly delegate only the power to fill in the details in such a way as to give effect to but not to defeat the p....
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....secure or compound for the same." The latter part of the next or the 7th Section reads as follows:-- "Any debtor served with a debtor's summons may apply to the Court, in the prescribed manner and within the prescribed time, to dismiss such summons, on the ground that he is not indebted to the creditor serving such summons, or that he is not indebted to such amount as will justify such creditor in presenting a bankruptcy petition against him; and the Court may dismiss the summons with or without costs, if satisfied with the allegations made by the debtor, or it may upon such security(if any) being given as the Court may require for payment to the creditor of the debt alleged by him to be due, and the costs of establishing such debt, stay all proceedings on the summons for such time as will be required for the trial of the question relating to such debt." A petition to adjudicate a debtor insolvent has to be filed under the statute within six months of the completion of the act of bankruptcy relied upon for adjudication. The question in the case was whether the act if bankruptcy mentioned in sub-s. (6) of S. 6 was complete on the expiration of three weeks from the servi....
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.... by Mellish L. J., is demonstrably opposed to the scheme or object of the statute as explained by me. (42) Regarding the argument that two interpretations are equally possible,--which I see no reason to accept,--the simplest answer is that the interpretation which advances the scheme or object of the statute should be preferred to the one which defeats it. (43) It has been suggested that the words 'the list' may be read as including the plural 'the lists'. According to the General Clauses Act, words importing singular can be read as importing the plural also only if the context does not indicate the contrary or such implication is not repugnant to the context. The case on hand, in my opinion, is one in which the context prevents the importation of the idea of plurality. (44) For the reasons fully discussed by me, it also appears that the interpretation placed on Section 11A(2) by this Court in Gadigeppa's case gives full effect to all the words of the section in question as well as to the scheme of elections envisaged by the statute, whereas the interpretation to the contrary tends to defeat the scheme. (45) My learned brother has referred to Section....
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....that a person shall be qualified to fill a seat in the House of the People or a Legislative Assembly of a State as the case may be, if he is an elector in any Parliamentary constituency or any Assembly Constituency in the State as the case may be. It may, however, be noticed that in the case of a Legislative Assembly of a State, the constituency in which a candidate is an elector should be a constituency of the State in question and further that in the case of a seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes in the autonomous districts of Assam, the candidate should be an elector for the Parliamentary constituency in which the seat is reserved or any other Parliamentary constituency comprising any such autonomous district in the case of Parliament and should be an elector in the Assembly constituency in which such seat or any other seat is reserved for the District in the case of Assam Legislative Assembly. Thus even in the case of elections under the Representation of the People Act, a certain territorial nexus is recognised as necessary even for passive franchise, the nature of the nexus necessarily being different from the nexus required for an election to a local body. (49) So far as th....