Judges uphold Constitutional validity of draw of lot to break a tie to post of village panchayat president

Judges uphold Constitutional validity of draw of lot to break a tie to post of village panchayat president

Observing that elections are not athletics or academic pursuits where joint winners can be declared, the Madras High Court has upheld the constitutional validity of two crucial provisions of the Tamil Nadu Panchayats (Elections) Rules of 1995, which provide for draw of lot to declare the winner to the post of village panchayat president if the top two contestants in the election had secured exactly the same number of votes.

Chief Justice Amreshwar Pratap Sahi and Justice Subramonium Prasad said, that in case of a tie between two candidates, there could be other alternatives such as ordering re-election, allowing both to work on a 50:50 tenure basis or giving one more opportunity to those who had not cast their votes, but it was up to the legislators to deliberate and figure out the best option among them and not for the court to suggest.