No Court Can Extend Statutory Period To Prefer Election Petition: SC [Read Judgment]

No court, whether the high court under Article 226 or this court under Article 32, 136 or 142 of the Constitution can extend the period in election matters, the bench said.The Supreme Court, in Reji Thomas vs. State of Kerala, has observed that once the mechanism provided under the Statute provides for a time schedule for preferring an election petition, in the absence of a provision in. No court, whether the high court under Article 226 or this court under Article 32, 136 or 142 of the Constitution can extend the period in election matters, the bench said. As per Section 69 of the Kerala Cooperative Societies Act, 1969, “No dispute arising in connection with the election of the Board of Management or an officer of the society shall be entertained by the Cooperative Arbitration Court unless it is referred to it within one month from the date of the election.” In the appeal, a three-judge bench, also comprising Justice Mohan M Shantanagoudar and Justice Navin Sinha, considered the question whether, in view of the statutory period prescribed under Section 69, the high court could have extended the period. Once the mechanism provided under the Statute provides for a time schedule for preferring an election petition, in the absence of a provision in the Statute for enlarging the time under any given circumstances, no court, whether the High Court under Article 226 or this Court under Article 32, 136 or 142 of the Constitution can extend the period in election matters.