In Brief
The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's judgment excluding persons living in illegally constructed houses from the electoral roll for Panchamarhi Cantonment Board elections. The Court held that the right to vote is a statutory right governed by the Cantonment Act, 2006. Section 28 requires voters to be 'residents' (persons maintaining a lawfully constructed house) of the Cantonment for at least six months, a narrower definition than 'inhabitant.' Rule 10(3) requires electoral roll names to be arranged by house numbers, inherently excluding illegal structures. The Court rejected arguments that encroachers should be included and affirmed that a Writ Petition challenging the electoral roll was the correct remedy, since Rule 55 bars election petitions on voter inclusion disputes. The election conducted pursuant to a provisional interim order became void once the appeal succeeded. Fresh elections must follow a revised electoral roll excluding encroachers."
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