Kerala High Court Sets Aside Declaration Of Election Of Chairman Of Sree Keralavarma College Union; Directs Re-Counting Of Votes To Be Carried Out

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday set aside the declaration of Students Federation of India (SFI) candidate, Anirudhan K.S., as the Chairman of the College Union of Sree Keralavarma College, Thrissur, in the plea moved by Kerala Students Union (KSU) candidate alleging arbitrariness in the recounting of votes pertaining to the election to the said post and seeking the conduct of a re-election for the same. 

The Single Judge Bench of Justice T.R. Ravi, observed that the counting and re-counting of votes that were done were not in accordance with the prescribed procedure.

It thereby ordered the conduct of re-counting of votes to the post of Chairman to be carried out strictly in accordance with the bye-laws, and to declare the result accordingly.

Sreekuttan, a specially-abled third Year B.A. Political Science student, had nitially been declared as the Chairman of the College Union, upon winning by 1 vote. 

However, in a dramatic turn of events, the Returning Officer resorted to recounting of the votes on the same day, when faced with requests for the same from the Opposite faction. Subsequently, on recounting, the Opposite faction's candidate was declared as the Chairman by 10 votes.

The petitioner thus alleged that the Principal of the College had objected to the recounting in the first place, and had even reported to the media, but it had resumed due to the intervention of the Cochin Devaswom Commissioner. 

The petitioner thus alleged that the election results had been influenced by extraneous factors, and sought the conduct of a probe into the alleged malpractice, tampering, and sabotage involved in the election process. 

He further sought the conduct of a re-election to the post of the Chairman of the College Union.

It is at this juncture that the Court today set aside the declaration of election of the Opposite faction's candidate as the Chairman of the College Union. 

The plea was moved through Advocates Mathew A. Kuzhalnadan, Kaveri Mohan, V. Shyamohan, Kuriakose Varghese, Sradhaxna Mudrika, and Bincy Job.

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Ker) 688

Case Title: Sreekuttan S. v. Sree Keralavarma College & Ors.

Case Number: W.P.(C) No. 36659/ 2023