The Supreme Court recently ordered authorities in Haryana to immediately grant Sandeep Kumar, the elected Sarpanch of Asaudah (Siwan) in Jhajjar district, his position. Although Kumar won the panchayat elections in 2022, he had been prevented from taking office due to a pending writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court [Sandeep Kumar v. Vinod and Others].
The petition had been filed by Vinod, a rival candidate whose nomination papers were rejected by the returning officer. Although Kumar also sought a directive from the High Court for his appointment, there had been no resolution.
A bench comprising Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah held that election processes should not be interfered with once initiated, and the only recourse after an election is through an election petition. They noted that the rejection of nomination papers could be challenged via an election petition, which Vinod had not filed.
In light of these findings, the Supreme Court decided that Kumar, as the duly elected candidate, could not be prevented from taking office. The Court emphasized that any future challenges to Kumar’s election would not be influenced by its observations in this interim order.
The dispute arose when Vinod’s candidacy was rejected on grounds of an unrecognized matriculation certificate. However, the High Court later directed the returning officer to accept his nomination papers after the elections had already occurred, and Kumar had been declared the winner. The Supreme Court added that Kumar’s petition would be considered alongside a similar pending appeal from the State Election Commission.
Senior Advocate Rameshwar Singh Malik and a team of lawyers represented Kumar, while advocates Siddharth Mittal and others appeared for the respondents.
