• Source:JND
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A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Monday changed the results of a Sarpanch Election held over two years ago. In a shocking incident that has come to light from Panipat, the results of the Gram Panchayat Elections held in November 2022 got interchanged due to a mistake in vote counting by the presiding officer of the booth. As a result, the actual winner was declared the loser, while the runner-up was mistakenly announced as the winner. The candidate who lost went to the Supreme Court, seeking a recount of the votes. Responding to the plea, the SC summoned the EVM and conducted the vote recount on July 7. Following the recount, the SC declared the winner on August 11. The Court directed the local administration to conduct the oath-taking ceremony within the next two days.

Two Sarpanch Were Made Due To Presiding Officer’s Mistake

In the Gram Panchayat Elections held on December 2, 2022, two Sarpanch were elected from Buana Lakhu for a few hours due to an error in vote counting by the presiding officer of the booth.

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There were seven candidates for the post of Sarpanch in Buana Lakhu village. Among these, there was a contest between two candidates, Kuldeep and Mohit. Booth numbers 65, 66, 67, 68, 69 and 270 were made in the village.

The presiding officer mistakenly changed the result at booth number 69. The votes received by Mohit were added to Kuldeep's account, and Kuldeep's votes were added to Mohit's account. After this, Kuldeep was declared the winner on the basis of the total of all the booths.

Gram Panchayat Election Results Challenged In SC

  • Mohit challenged the decision in the High Court, seeking a recount of votes. The Punjab and Haryana High Court refused to conduct a recount, against which the petitioner went to the Supreme Court.
  • On June 12, Mohit challenged the High Court's decision in the Supreme Court. The first hearing was held on July 31, and the Supreme Court summoned the EVM and ordered a recount on July 7. The counting of votes took place in the Supreme Court on July 7, in which Kuldeep got 1,000 votes and Mohit got 1,051 votes.
  • The SC reserved the judgment on August 11. On August 11, a three-bench judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Suryakant, Dipankar Dutta and NK Singh declared Mohit victorious and ordered the district administration to administer the oath within two days.
  • On August 14, Mohit is set to be sworn in as the Sarpanch of Buana Lakhu at the Israna BDO office in Panipat district.

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