Punjab & Haryana High Court Sets Aside Recounting Order; Holds Election Petition Was Defective and Non-Maintainable for Failure to Implead All Contesting Candidates

Case Name: Kamaljit Singh vs. Sandeep Singh & Others
Date of Judgment: 02 December 2025
Citation: CR-5679-2025 & CR-8464-2025
Bench: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Deepak Gupta

Held: The Punjab & Haryana High Court held that the election petition filed by the returned candidate’s challenger was non-maintainable for multiple jurisdictional defects, including failure to implead all contesting candidates while simultaneously seeking a declaration of his own election, as required under Section 77 of the Punjab State Election Commission Act, 1994. The Court ruled that such defects are non-curable and that the Tribunal’s consequential order directing recounting of votes could not survive.

Summary: The dispute arose from the 2024 Gram Panchayat elections in Village Hathan, where the petitioner Kamaljit Singh won the Sarpanch election by a margin of six votes. The defeated candidate, Sandeep Singh, filed an election petition alleging irregularities in counting and sought both recounting and a declaration that he be declared elected. The petition, however, was not signed and verified in accordance with statutory requirements, the copies served were not attested, and crucially, all contesting candidates were not impleaded despite the prayer for declaration—an omission held to be fatal by settled precedent.

When the High Court pointed out the defect, the election petitioner attempted to withdraw the prayer seeking his own declaration. The Tribunal allowed this amendment. The High Court held that this withdrawal could not revive an inherently defective petition, since maintainability must be tested on the date of filing and Section 80 expressly treats these defects as non-curable. The Court further held that once the foundation of the election petition collapses, the recounting order passed in such proceedings automatically fails.

The Court reiterated that recounting is an exceptional remedy available only in a validly instituted election petition supported by clear pleadings and evidence. Since the petition itself was void, the Tribunal lacked jurisdiction to order recount.

Decision: Both impugned orders directing recounting and permitting withdrawal of the declaration prayer were set aside. The election petition was dismissed as non-maintainable, and both revision petitions were allowed.