On Tuesday, the Kerala High Court invalidated the victory of Anirudhan K S, the SFI candidate, in the union election of Sree Kerala Varma College in Thrissur. The court ordered a re-counting for the chairman’s post, citing discrepancies in the vote counting process, which did not adhere to the prescribed procedure.
Justice T R Ravi issued the order following a petition filed by Sreekuttan S, the KSU Chairman candidate, seeking fresh elections. Initially declared the winner, Sreekuttan later faced a recount ordered by the returning officer after external intervention, resulting in Anirudhan K S being elected to the post. The court found inconsistencies, noting that the initial count had 23 invalid votes, increasing to 27 in the recount. The bylaw stipulates that rejected ballot papers should be endorsed by the returning officer and kept separately, a rule not followed in this case.
Documents revealed that the KSU candidate secured 896 votes, while the SFI candidate initially had 895 votes. After recounting, the SFI candidate garnered 899, and the KSU candidate received 889 votes. The court highlighted the treatment of initially valid votes as invalid during the recounting process, with no clear endorsement. The petitioner argued that extraneous intervention tainted the election process, as invalid votes were included in the recounting of valid votes, violating university bylaws.
The court emphasized that the recounting method violated election bylaws, which require the separation of rejected votes before counting valid votes. A valid vote cannot be invalidated, and an invalid vote cannot be validated during recounting, the petitioner’s counsel argued. The court concluded that the recount, if needed, must be conducted from valid votes.
Post Your Comments