BABUBHAI RAMJIBHAI DESAI v. STATE — 1999 DIGILAW 755 (GUJ)

A. M. KAPADIA, J. ( 1 ) BY means of filing these petitions, petitioner of Special Civil Application No. 9026 of 1999, Babubhai Ramjibhai Desai, who is a member and Chairman of Nindroda Seva Sahakari Mandali Limited and representing agricultural Constituency and petitioner of Special Civil Application No. 9027 of 1999, Akbarbhai Rahimbhai Momin, who is a member and member of managing Committee of Samoda Seva Sahakari Mandali Limited and representing agricultural Constituency, on the apprehension that the party in power in the state has registered certain new Co-operative Societies for the purpose of inclusion of the names of the members of the Managing Committee in the voters list for the election of Agricultural Produce Market Committee, Siddhpur, have approached this Court for following relief : "the Honble Court be pleased to issue a writ of mandamus or writ in nature of mandamus or writ of prohibition or writ in nature of prohibition or any other appropriate writ, direction or order directing the respondents to prepare the voters list of Agricultural Constituency of the A. P. M. C. Siddhpur consisting of the societies which are dispensing agricultural credit of regulated items in the market area of Siddhpur A. P. M. C. and restrain the respondents from including any other societies which are dispensing with agricultural credit of any other items which are not regulated in the Siddhpur A. P. M. C. " ( 2 ) THE facts of the petitions in nutshell are as under :2. 1. Petitioners are members of Agricultural Produce Market Committee ("a. P. M. C. " for short hereinafter), Siddhpur, which is constituted for Siddhpur market area. The election of Siddhpur A. P. M. C. is due and certain persons who are in the power of the State Government have registered certain societies in the months between June 1999 to September 1999 only for the purpose of inclusion of names of members of the Managing Committee in the voters list for the ensuing election of the A. P. M. C. , Siddhpur. It is the case of the petitioner of Special Civil Application No. 9026 of 1999 that names of the members of the Managing Committee of Nindroda Seva Sahakari Mandali Limited appeared in the voters list of Agricultural Constituency right from 1988 and the society is registered under the Gujarat Co-operative Societies Act ("the Act" for short hereinafter) prior to 1975. It is the case of the petitioner of Special Civil Application No. 9026 of 1999 that names of the members of the Managing Committee of Nindroda Seva Sahakari Mandali Limited appeared in the voters list of Agricultural Constituency right from 1988 and the society is registered under the Gujarat Co-operative Societies Act ("the Act" for short hereinafter) prior to 1975. Similarly, it is the case of the petitioner of Special civil Application No. 9027 of 1999 that names of the members of the Managing committee of Samoda Seva Sahakari Mandali Limited appeared in the voters list of Agricultural Constituency right from 1996 and the society is registered under the Act prior to 1975. 2. 2. The State Government had issued notification on 31-12-1981 whereby cotton was included as one of the items which is required to be regulated by the A. P. M. C. , Siddhpur. On 7-12-1995 election of Siddhpur A. P. M. C. was declared by the Director, Agricultural Marketing and Rural Finance and on 8-12-1995 the District Registrar was appointed as Election Officer of the market committee and in turn he informed the market committee to publish the election programme on the notice board of the market committee. 2. 3. On 13-12-1995 the election programme was published in the newspaper and on 12th March, 1996 election for the market committee was held. During the last week of March 1996 names of the elected members of the market committee were published in the official gazette and on 7-4-1996 election of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman was conducted by the authorised representative of the Director and the present management took over the administration of the market committee. 2. 4. It is further case of the petitioners that tobacco was included as one of the regulated items by the State Government by issuing notification published on 4-3-1997. It is further case of the petitioners that the Agricultural Constituency is representing 8 members in the management of the market committee. The voters list of the Agricultural Constituency consists of members of the managing committee of the Co-operative Societies which are dispensing with Agricultural credit. It is further case of the petitioners that the Agricultural Constituency is representing 8 members in the management of the market committee. The voters list of the Agricultural Constituency consists of members of the managing committee of the Co-operative Societies which are dispensing with Agricultural credit. It is averred that certain persons have registered several societies within the market area of Siddhpur A. P. M. C. only with a view to see that names of members of managing committee of those societies are included in the voters list of Agricultural Constituency of Siddhpur A. P. M. C. The object of the Act is to regulate buying and selling of agricultural produce and establishment of markets for agricultural produce in different areas. The State Government is empowered to declare the agricultural produce which will be regulated within the market area of the respective market committee. ( 3 ) ACCORDING to the petitioners, out of the items referred to in Schedule i of the Act, there are several items which can be regulated under the Act. But the market committee can control only those agricultural produce which are notified by the State Government under Secs. 5 and 6 of the Act. According to the petitioners, market committee will also be controlled by societies which are dealing with regulated items within the market area. However, according to the petitioners, certain milk producing societies are trying to get themselves included in the voters list of the Agricultural Constituency. Since "milk" is not a regulated agricultural produce, those societies are co-operative marketing societies and, therefore, those societies cannot be included in the Agricultural constituency for the reasons that they are co-operative marketing societies and milk is not regulated in the market area of Siddhpur A. P. M. C. ( 4 ) NOTWITHSTANDING the above facts, according to the petitioners, at the behest of the party in power, certain new societies are registered for the purpose of inclusion in the voters list for the election of A. P. M. C. , Siddhpur. Therefore, the petitioners have filed the petitions for the reliefs as prayed for therein. ( 5 ) IT may be appreciated that respondent No. 3 in both the petitions is joined as party respondent in pursuance of the order recorded by this Court earlier. Therefore, the petitioners have filed the petitions for the reliefs as prayed for therein. ( 5 ) IT may be appreciated that respondent No. 3 in both the petitions is joined as party respondent in pursuance of the order recorded by this Court earlier. ( 6 ) PURSUANT to the notice issued by this Court, State of Gujarat has filed its appearance and hotly contested the petitions on the grounds mentioned in the affidavit-in-reply. It is contended that as per Sec. 11 of the Act, every Market committee shall consist of the members stated in the said section. As per Sec. 11 (1) (i) of the Act, 8 agriculturists are required to be elected by the members of the Managing Committee of the Co-operative Societies (other than Co- operative Marketing Societies) dispensing agricultural credit in the market area. It is further contended that milk producing co-operative societies and Gopalak societies are dispensing agricultural credit and as they are dispensing agricultural credit they are entitled to be included in the voters list. It is further contended that reliance which is placed on the notification is in respect of dealing with the products in the Agricultural Produce Market committee. It is further contended that milk is one of the products which is stated in the schedule annexed to the Act, and therefore, the co-operative societies which are dealing in milk produce and also dispending agricultural credit and which are within the jurisdiction of that agricultural produce market committee are required to be registered as voters. It is contended that in Part III of the Gujarat Agricultural markets Produce Rules, 1965 ("the Rules" for short hereinafter) there are rules in respect of elections to the Market committee. Rules 5, 6 and 7 provide for list of voters and preparation of voters list of general election. Under Rule 7 (1) (i) every co-operative society dispensing agricultural credit in the market area shall communicate the full names of the members of its Managing Committee together with the place of residence of each member. On that basis the authorised officer is required to prepare the list of voters as required by Rule 5 on the basis of information received under Rule 5 on the basis of information received under sub-rule (1) and if necessary after making such inquiry as he may deem fit. On that basis the authorised officer is required to prepare the list of voters as required by Rule 5 on the basis of information received under Rule 5 on the basis of information received under sub-rule (1) and if necessary after making such inquiry as he may deem fit. So far as Rule 8 is concerned, it provides for the provisional and final publication of lists of voters. There are stages for making objection to the provisional voters list under Rule 8. It is further contended that notification for fixing the election date is published and election machinery will move as per their programme. Therefore, at this stage, these petitions are not maintainable. It is further contended that the State Government and the authorised officer will act in accordance with the rules and as per the provisions of the Act and on preparation of the voters list opportunity will be given to the petitioners to raise objection against the provisional voters list as and when dates are fixed. It is further contended that the Director of Agricultural Marketing and Rural finance, Gujarat State has issued the circular dated 30-12-1982 giving instructions that co-operative societies dealing with milk and animal husbandry and as per their bye-laws dispensing with agricultural credit in the market area are required to be notified in the agriculturists constituency. It is further contended that a circular is also issued by the Director of Agricultural Marketing and Rural Finance, Gujarat State in respect of the Gopalak Societies dealing in milk and animal husbandry and it is decided as a matter of policy that the societies of animal husbandry should be included in the voters list as animal husbandry is part of agricultural produce as they are coming within the purview of Sec. 11 (1) (i ). It is further contended that in respect of all other Agricultural Produce Markets Committees all over the State of Gujarat milk producing co-operative societies dispensing agricultural credit in the market area are always included in the voters list of the agriculturists constituency. It is contended that these petitions are not maintainable, and therefore, they are required to be rejected. ( 7 ) MR. Jhaveri, learned Advocate for the petitioners has raised following contentions : (A) Government has no business/say in the matter since the Government machinery has to act impartially. It is contended that these petitions are not maintainable, and therefore, they are required to be rejected. ( 7 ) MR. Jhaveri, learned Advocate for the petitioners has raised following contentions : (A) Government has no business/say in the matter since the Government machinery has to act impartially. (B) Respondent No. 3 society got registered as a Gopalak society and milk society only with a mala fide object to get majority in the agriculturist constituency and thereby the present majority of the agriculturist constituency will be converted into minority. (C) Milk is not a regulated item and selling of milk by respondent No. 3 societies are not included within the market area. (D) Both respondent No. 3-Societies have not been granted any licence under Sec. 8 of the Act. (E) To increase the representation in the A. P. M. C. , respondent No. 3 is brought within the agriculturist constituency so that the majority will be converted into minority. (F) Lastly, it is submitted that the election programme has already been announced and the date of preliminary publication of voters list is fixed on 18-12-1999, and if at the last moment the authorised officer under political influence includes such type of societies which are not falling within the sub-clause (i) of sub-sec. (1) of Sec. 11 of the Act, they would be in majority and it would have adverse effect on the election which is scheduled to be held on 28-2-2000. On the aforesaid premises, Mr. Jhaveri, learned Advocate for the petitioners urged that the petitions require consideration and rule requires to be issued and ad interim relief granted by this Court may be made interim relief till the matters are finally heard. ( 8 ) IN counter-submission, learned Additional Advocate General has made following submissions : (I) At the notice stage the ad interim relief granted by this Court amounted to allowing the petition without adjudicating upon the issues raised in the petitions and hence such type of relief cannot be granted by way of ad interim relief. (II) The issue which has been raised by the petitioners in these petitions is to be decided by the authorised officer defined under sub-rule (2) of Rule 2 of the Rules, who is empowered to decide the applications of the societies and to include names of the societies in the voters list. (II) The issue which has been raised by the petitioners in these petitions is to be decided by the authorised officer defined under sub-rule (2) of Rule 2 of the Rules, who is empowered to decide the applications of the societies and to include names of the societies in the voters list. (III) There is no prima facie case in favour of the petitioners, the balance of convenience also does not tilt in favour of the petitioners nor any hardship will be caused to them. Since granting of such type of relief would amount to denying the right to vote of those societies which are not before this court, no such relief can be granted. (IV) There is no word like "regulated" items in market area under sub- clause (i) of sub-sec. (1) of Sec. 11 of the Act and the relief prayed for by the petitioners is with regard to "regulated" items in the market area which would mean that the Court has to add the word in the statute book which is not provided therein. (V) Lastly, it is contended that to contest election from the agriculturist constituency one need not be a voter in that very constituency. As per Rule 8, before final publication of the list of voters every one has right to object against the inclusion of a society and that stage has not reached so far, and therefore, the petitions are premature. The authorised officer will consider all these aspects in details and since election programme has been published these petitions being premature are not maintainable under Art. 226 of the constitution of India. On the aforesaid submissions, he urges that since there is no substance and merits in the petitions they may be rejected and the ad interim relief granted may be vacated so that the authorised officer can consider the applications that may be submitted by any of the societies and proceed in accordance with law as per Rules 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 so that election can be held as per the programme published on 7-12-1999. Mr. Jani, learned Advocate for respondent No. 3 has adopted the arguments canvassed by the learned Additional Advocate General. Mr. Jani, learned Advocate for respondent No. 3 has adopted the arguments canvassed by the learned Additional Advocate General. ( 9 ) IN order to appreciate the submissions and rival submissions and the question posed for determination of this Court in these petitions, first of all let us examine the scheme of the Act and Rules. Firstly we may advert to Sec. 11 of the Act which reads as under :"11. (1) Every market committee shall consist of the following members, namely : (i) eight agriculturists who shall be elected by members of Managing committees of co-operative societies (other than co-operative marketing societies) dispensing agricultural credit in the market area; (ii) four members to be elected in the prescribed manner from amongst themselves by the traders holding general licences; (iii) two representatives of the co-operative marketing societies situate in the market area and holding general licences, to be elected from amongst the members (other than nominal, associate or sympathiser members) of such societies by the members of the Managing Committees of such societies; xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx"rule 5 of the said Rules reads as under :"5. Different lists of voters :- For the purposes of Sec. 11, there shall be in respect of a Market committee three separate lists of voters in Gujarati as follows, namely :- (1) under clause (i) of sub-sec. (1) of Sec. 11 of the Act, a list of members of Managing Committees of Co-operative Societies dispensing agricultural credit in the market area; (2) under clause (ii) of sub-sec. (1) of Sec. 11 of the Act, a list of traders holding general licences in the market area; (3) under clause (iii) of sub-sec. (1) of Sec. 11 of the Act, a list of members of Managing Committees of Co-operative Marketing Societies situated in the market area. " ( 10 ) IN view of the aforesaid statutory provisions of law and rules, there are three different constituencies and the voters list are required to be prepared for each constituency separately. The dispute centres round as to whether agriculturists who form part of the Managing Committee of the agricultural societies dispensing with agricultural credit in the market area irrespective of whether they are dealing in milk produce or any other produce can be included in the voters list of the agricultural constituency. The dispute centres round as to whether agriculturists who form part of the Managing Committee of the agricultural societies dispensing with agricultural credit in the market area irrespective of whether they are dealing in milk produce or any other produce can be included in the voters list of the agricultural constituency. ( 11 ) TO answer the aforesaid dispute, we have to examine the definition of "agriculturist" defined in clause (ii) of Sec. 2 of the Act which reads as under :" (II) "agriculturist" means a person who ordinarily by himself or who by his tenants or hired labour or otherwise is engaged in the production or growth of agricultural produce, but does not include a trader or broker in agricultural produce, although such a trader or broker may also be engaged in the production or growth of agricultural produce. "definition of "agriculturist" is wide enough to include all persons except traders or brokers on agricultural produce. Relief prayed for in the petitions is very general in nature whereby direction against respondents/ authorised officers has been sought with regard to the preparation of voters list of the societies which are marketing regulated items in the market area of A. P. M. C. Siddhpur, for the election of A. P. M. C. Siddhpur. It has been rightly pointed out by learned Additional Advocate General that the very word "regulated" item in the market area does not figure in sub-clause (i) of sub-sec. (1) of Sec. 2 of the Act and, therefore, the word which is not in the statute book cannot be added by this Court and relief in that regard cannot be granted. Rule 5 of the Rules pertaining to the preparation of voters list also does not stipulate any restriction with regard to "regulated" items. The words used in Sec. 11 and Rule 5 are "market area". ( 12 ) NEEDLESS to say that Gopalak societies and milk producers societies, if they are dispensing agricultural credit, are entitled to be included in the voters list. However, that question can definitely be examined by the authorised officer at the time of preparation of voters list as per Rule 7 of the Rules. ( 13 ) RELYING upon circular dated 30-12-1982, learned Advocate Mr. However, that question can definitely be examined by the authorised officer at the time of preparation of voters list as per Rule 7 of the Rules. ( 13 ) RELYING upon circular dated 30-12-1982, learned Advocate Mr. Jhaveri contended that milk producing societies cannot be included in agricultural constituency, and therefore, the Commissioner, Agriculture and Rural Economy, government of Gujarat in its wisdom had issued the said circular and placed restriction on the milk producing societies from including in the agricultural constituency. He further contended that the relief prayed for is against those societies which are not dispensing agricultural credit of regulated items in the market area of A. P. M. C. Siddhpur. ( 14 ) LEARNED Additional Advocate General further in counter-submission contended that on careful scrutiny of the said circular it can be noticed that the Government has clarified that those milk producing societies not engaged in animal husbandry, by showing the licence, tried to get included in voters list of agricultural constituency, and therefore, Government has issued the said circular for a further clarification that those milk producing societies which are not engaged in animal husbandry products cannot be included in agricultural constituency, and therefore, these clarifications have been made in the said circular. Therefore, according to Mr. Shelat, learned Additional Advocate general, the circular in terms clarifies that those milk producing societies which are dealing in animal husbandry products also can be included in the agricultural constituency. ( 15 ) ON having perusal of the aforesaid circular indeed it is clear that the government has issued the clarification by issuing the said circular whereby those co-operative societies which are engaged in milk as well as animal husbandry products and competent enough in dispensing agricultural credit can also be included in agricultural constituency. ( 16 ) SO far as schedule attached with the Act, regarding definition agricultural produce is concerned, on perusing the same, there are in all XII classes. If a society is engaged in the production of any of the items mentioned therein, then in that case, it can be included in the agricultural constituency. In view of this, the contention advanced by Mr. If a society is engaged in the production of any of the items mentioned therein, then in that case, it can be included in the agricultural constituency. In view of this, the contention advanced by Mr. Jhaveri that those societies which are dealing in milk and which are not dispensing agricultural credit of regulated items in market area of A. P. M. C. , Siddhpur cannot be included in the voters list of agricultural constituency is not well-founded. In other words, the co-operative societies which are dealing in milk products and also dispensing agricultural credit which are within the jurisdiction of that A. P. M. C. are required to be included in voters list. ( 17 ) IT may be appreciated that Rules 5, 6 and 7 of the Rules provide for different lists of voters, persons qualified to vote and preparation of list of voters for general election. Rule 7 (1) (i) provides that every Co-operative Society dispensing agricultural credit in the market area shall communicate the full names of the members of its Managing Committee together with the place of residence of each member and on the basis of those applications authorised officers is required to prepare list of voters as required by Rule 5, on the basis of the information received under the said rules and, of course, after making necessary inquiry as deemed fit. Rule 8 provides for provisional and final publication of lists of voters and there are stages for making objections against the provisional voters list under Rule 8. It would not be out of place to record that notification of election programme fixing various dates from declaration of election to result has been already published on 2-11-1999. The powers which are to be exercised by the authorised officer cannot be exercised by this Court merely on the apprehension of the petitions that the party in power will include those new societies in the voters list which are not dealing in agricultural produce. ( 18 ) LEARNED Advocate Mr. Jhaveri, relaying upon the judgment of the honble Apex Court in the case of Sreenivasa General Traders v. State of A. P. , AIR 1983 SC 1246 , contended that since milk producing society is outside the purview of agricultural constituency cannot be included in the voters list and if included it would be in violation of Art. 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution. In the said case the Honble Supreme Court has held that the prohibition envisaged in Sec. 7 (6) of the A. P. (Agricultural Produce and Livestock) Markets Act against purchase or sale of notified agricultural produce, livestock and products of livestock in notified market area outside market in that area is not violative of Art. 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution. I fail to understand how this judgment can be of any help or avail to the petitioners case. So far as the instant case is concerned, same is not the point at issue. The only question comes for determination is whether milk producing co-operative societies dealing in animal husbandry products can be included in agricultural constituency or not? The answer obviously would be in affirmative in view of the schedule attached with the Act. Even as per circular dated 30-12-1982 issued by Government of Gujarat three categories have been made for inclusion in the voters list : (I) The co-operative societies which have made provision in the bye-laws for financing animal husbandry; (II) As per bye-laws the societies which are competent to deal in agricultural credit; (III) Those milk producing co-operative societies which are dispensing such finance regularly. Therefore, it is clear that milk producing co-operative societies engaged in animal husbandry products can be included in the voters list of the agricultural constituency provided they are dispensing agricultural credit and the authorised officer has to scrutinise the aforesaid three aspects carefully. ( 19 ) RELYING upon the judgment of this Court in the case of Gunvantrai Manibhai Desai v. B. Narsinhmn, 1984 (1) GLR 603 , Mr. Jhaveri contended that the fisheries societies if they are not engaged in the produce or growth of any of the items listed in the schedule appended to the Act, cannot be included as societies dispensing agricultural credit in the market area and cannot be included in the list of voters. The said judgment also is not applicable to the facts of the present case. In the aforesaid judgment, this Court has unequivocally observed that those fisheries societies which are not engaged in the production or growth of any of the items listed in the schedule of the Act are not entitled to be included in the list of voters. The said judgment also is not applicable to the facts of the present case. In the aforesaid judgment, this Court has unequivocally observed that those fisheries societies which are not engaged in the production or growth of any of the items listed in the schedule of the Act are not entitled to be included in the list of voters. But in the instant case, as observed earlier, those milk producing societies which are dispending animal husbandry products and dispensing agricultural credit are to be included in agricultural constituency as per the circular dated 30-12-1982 and that question is yet to be examined by the authorised officer. ( 20 ) NEEDLESS to say that prima facie case and balance of convenience both are not in favour of the petitioners. On the contrary, balance of convenience tilts in favour of the respondents. Those societies which have made application claiming that though they are milk producing co-operative societies and also dealing in animal husbandry products and are dispensing agricultural credit may be included in the agricultural constituency are not yet included or are on the verge of inclusion in the voters list of agricultural constituency. This question is yet to be examined and decided by the authorised officer. . ( 21 ) IT would be appropriate to refer to the judgment delivered by this Court in the case of Vadasama Seva Sahakari Mandli Ltd. v. Director, Agriculture Marketing and Rural Finance, 1998 (2) GLR 1072 wherein this Court has held that authorised officer is entitled to inquire whether such a society is dispensing agricultural credit in the market area or not. In view of the aforesaid observation it has become abundantly clear that powers which are vested in authorised officer cannot be snatched away by this Court in exercise of jurisdiction under Art. 226 of the Constitution at this premature stage. ( 22 ) IT has been rightly contended by learned Additional Advocate General that under the guise of interim relief, principal relief is prayed for in the petition and such practice is deprecated by the Honble Apex Court while rendering judgment in the case of Bank of Maharashtra v. Race Shipping and Transport co. ( 22 ) IT has been rightly contended by learned Additional Advocate General that under the guise of interim relief, principal relief is prayed for in the petition and such practice is deprecated by the Honble Apex Court while rendering judgment in the case of Bank of Maharashtra v. Race Shipping and Transport co. Pvt. Ltd. , reported in AIR 1995 SC 1368 wherein the Honble Apex Court has held as under : "the practice of granting interim orders which practically gives the principal relief sought in the petition for no better reason than that a prima fade case has been made out, without being concerned about the balance of convenience, the public interest and a host of other considerations is deprecated. " ( 23 ) IN this case also, the principal relief which has been sought for is for directing the respondents to prepare voters list of agricultural constituency of A. P. M. C. , Siddhpur consisting of the societies which are dispensing agricultural credit of regulated items in the market area of Siddhpur A. P. M. C. , and restrain the respondents from including any other societies which are dispensing with agricultural credit of any other items which are not regulate in the Siddhpur A. P. M. C. Similar interim relief is also prayed for in the petition. If the interim relief is granted it would amount to granting final relief itself and such relief in view of the judgment of the Honble Supreme Court in the case of Bank of Maharashtra (supra) cannot be granted in the facts of the present case. If the interim relief is granted it would amount to granting final relief itself and such relief in view of the judgment of the Honble Supreme Court in the case of Bank of Maharashtra (supra) cannot be granted in the facts of the present case. ( 24 ) IN view of the discussion made hereinabove, I am of the opinion that the authorised officer as defined under sub-rule (ii) of Rule 2 of the Rules, who is competent officer to act under Rules 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 to prepare and publish provisional list and after inviting objections prepare and publish final voters list for all three constituencies separately, has to decide the aspect as to which are the societies that can be included in agricultural constituency, said power is within the domain and realm of the authorised officer and this Court while exercising powers under Art. 226 of the Constitution merely on the apprehension of the petitioners that the party in power in Government may pressurize authorised officer to include those societies which are not falling within the category of agricultural constituency with a view to convert majority into minority, cannot give any direction that such societies shall not be included in the voters list. Further, as neither Sec. 11 nor Rule 5 refers to "regulated items" imposing of such a condition as a qualifying pre-requisite to constitute a voter amounts to adding words to the statute. The accepted norm is to read the rules and statutes as they are. It would not be out of place to mention that there are as many as or more than 100 A. P. M. C. s in Gujarat, and therefore, in exercise of powers under Art. 226 of the Constitution of India, this Court cannot be expected to verify and examine all those voters list which is the duty of the authorised officer who has access to the material and documents. Therefore, in view of this also the petitions are liable to be rejected. ( 25 ) IN the premises, both the petitions have no merits and they are required to be rejected at the threshold. ( 26 ) IN the net result, for the reasons recorded hereinabove, both the petitions being devoid of merits are liable to be rejected, and accordingly, they are rejected at the admission stage with no order as to costs. ( 26 ) IN the net result, for the reasons recorded hereinabove, both the petitions being devoid of merits are liable to be rejected, and accordingly, they are rejected at the admission stage with no order as to costs. Notice issued in both the petitions stands discharged. Ad interim relief granted earlier shall stand vacated. ( 27 ) AT this stage, learned Advocate Mr. Jhaveri urges that the ad interim relief which has been recorded earlier and continued till today may be extended upto 18-12-1999 to enable him to approach higher forum by preferring L. P. A. The aforesaid request of Mr. Jhaveri has been strenuously objected by the learned Additional Advocate General on the ground that since this Court has rejected the petitions on the ground that they are premature and election programme has already been commenced and the first date for publication of voters list being 18-12-1999 and applications are required to be considered prior to the said date, ad interim relief may not be extended any further. After having examined the submissions made by the learned Advocates for the parties, I am of the opinion that since the petitions have been rejected as they are premature and on merits and the applications are required to be considered prior to the publication of the first voters list on 18-12-1999, interim relief recorded earlier shall not be extended any further period. Hence, this request of Mr. Jhaveri is rejected. ( 28 ) AS the main petitions are rejected, no order on the Civil Applications. .