TMI Blog1954 (1) TMI 27X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed as respondents, Brahma Sarup, Ram Prashad Poddar and the appellant, Jagan Nath, but he omitted to implead, as required by section 82 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, Baijnath, one of the candidates, whose nomination had been accepted but who had withdrawn his candidature subsequently. On the 14th July, 1952, the Election Commissioner appointed an Election Tribunal comprising respondents 5 to 7. This appointment was published in the Gazette of India on the 26th July, 1952, and the election petition after due publication was referred to the tribunal. On the 26th August, 1952, which was the first date of hearing before the tribunal, the appellant raised a preliminary objection that the omission to implead Baijnath, a duly nominated candidate as a respondent in the petition.- was fatal to its maintainability. The petitioner contended that Baijnath was neither a necessary nor a proper party and that in any event the non-joinder of a party. was not fatal to the petition in view of the provisions of Order 1, rule 9, Civil Procedure Code. In the alternative, it was claimed that if it was considered that he was a necessary or proper party, permission may be given to the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s further contended that the provisions of section 82 were explicit and mandatory and admitted of no exceptions and the petition not being in accordance with the provisions of the law, there was no valid petition which the tribunal could proceed to try. Lastly, it was contended that the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure were applicable to the trial of petitions but could not be of assistance in determining whether a petition had been validly presented. The general rule is well settled that the statutory requirements of election law must be strictly observed and that an election contest is not an action at law or a suit in equity but is a purely statutory proceeding unknown to the common law and that the court possesses no common law power. It is also well settled that it is a sound principle of natural justice that the success of a candidate who has won at an election should not be lightly interfered with and any petition seeking such interference must strictly conform to the requirements of the law. None of these propositions however have any application if the special law itself confers authority on a tribunal to proceed with a petition in accordance with certain proce ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... petition shall contain a concise statement of the material facts on which the petitioner relies and shall be signed by the petitioner and verified in the manner laid down in the Code of Civil Procedure for the verification of pleadings. It further provides that the petition shall be accompanied by a list signed and verified in like manner setting forth full particulars of any corrupt or illegal practice which the petitioner alleges, including as full a statement as possible of the names of the parties alleged to have committed such corrupt or illegal practice and the date and place of the commission of each such practice. Provision is also made in the section empowering the tribunal to obtain further particulars by allowing an amendment. Section 84 concerns the relief which a petitioner may claim, and section 85 provides that if the provisions of sections 81, 83 or 117 are not complied with, the Election Commission shall dismiss the petition. Power is however given to the Commission to condone delay in making the petition for sufficient cause. Chapter III of Part VI deals with the trial of election petitions. It consists of 21 sections. Section 86 provides that if the petition i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rt this view. Section,110 provides the procedure for the withdrawal of a petition. It says that any person who might himself have been a party may within 14 days of the publication of the notice of withdrawal in the official gazette apply to be substituted as a petitioner in the place of the party withdrawing it. Section 115 provides that such a person can be substituted as a petitioner on the death of the original petitioner while section 116 provides that if a sole respondent dies or gives notice that he does not wish to oppose the petition or any of the respondents dies or gives such notice and there is no other respondent who is appearing in the petition, the tribunal shall cause notice of such event to be published in the official gazette and thereupon any person who might have been a petitioner may within 14 days of such publication apply to be substituted in the place of such respondent and oppose the petition and shall be entitled to continue the proceedings on such terms as the tribunal may think fit. These provisions suggest that if any proper party is omitted from the lists of respondents, such a defect is not fatal and the tribunal is entitled to deal with it under the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... isions of Election Tribunals given under the election rules in force under the Government of India Act, 1935, and the decision of another Election Tribunal, Quilon, in Sri Ramchandra Nair v. Sri Ramehandra Das reproduced At page 2396e, Gazette of India Extraordinary, Part I, Section 1, dated the llth of November, 1952. It was said that unless all the requirements of rules 81, 82 and 83 are complied with the election cannot be questioned. As regards the omission of section 82 from the provisions of section 85, it was observed that the Election Commission can at once discover whether the provisions of sections 81, 83 and 117 are complied with but the same cannot be said about the requirements of section 82 and that the Election, Commission will have to hold an inquiry as to who were the candidates duly nominated before determining whether all of them had been joined or not, that this burden of inquiry was not thrown on the Commission but it was left for the determination of the tribunal, and hence it was that section 82 was not included in section 85. Both the reasons given by the tribunal cannot, in our opinion, be sustained. The provisions of section 82 are in terms similar to t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the stage when it had to say whether the provisions of sections 81, 83 and 117 had been complied with. From the circumstance that section 82 does not find a place in the provisions of section 85 the conclusion follows that the directions contained in section 82 were not considered to be of such a character as to involve the dismissal of a petition in limine and that the matter was such as could be dealt with by the tribunal under the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure specifically made applicable to the trial of election petitions. The Bombay Tribunal, presided over by Shri B. D. Nandkarni has taken a contrary view in Election Petition No. 72 of 1952, page 286, Gazette of India Extraordinary, dated the 5th February, 1953. The issue in this case was whether Shri T. C. Patil, was a necessary party and -whether by the omission to implead him the whole petition was bad. The tribunal held that the defect was not fatal. In another case, Petition No. 113 of 1952, decided on 28th July, 1953, the majority of the Bombay Tribunal, decided otherwise. The view of the majority was that the mandatory nature of the provisions of section 82 itself contains within it the -consequence of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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