TMI Blog1974 (8) TMI 112X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s he was declared elected. He was declared elected on 12-3-1972 and the Election Petition was filed by Raj Singh, the Congress candidate on 26-4-1972. The last date for filing nominations was 11-2-1972 and the last date for withdrawal was 14-2-1972. The poll was held on 11-3-1972 and as already stated the result was declared on 12-3-1972. The Election Petition was filed on the ground that the appellant Umed Singh was guilty of several corrupt practices. The learned Judge held that all the alleged corrupt practices had not been proved but some were. Accordingly, the appellant's election was set aside. The corrupt practices of which the appellant was held guilty are as follows (1) That the appellant committed bribery within the Meaning of section 123(1)(A) (a) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 in so far as be, on March 10, 1972 made a payment of ₹ 1,000/- to Chatru-one of the candidates-with the object of inducing him to continue to stand as a candidate at the election and not to withdraw from the same. (2) That the appellant committed the corrupt practice within the contemplation of section 123(5) of the Act by hiring and procuring the following vehicles ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tives used to get together and whatever they decided was called the decision of the Chaubisee. P.W. 17 Swami Indervesh has told the Court that now those villages have been split up into more than 24, but still the joint decision of the representatives of those villages is called the decision of the Chaubisee. The Moham constituency falls within the area of the Chiaubisee with the exception of possibly some villages which do not strictly fall within that area. It appears that this traditional nonofficial panchayat has stilt a good deal of following and its decision in political matters carries some weight. It is the common case of both sides that though the respondent (the present appellant) had stood up to fight the election in question as an Independent candidate, he had been adopted as the candidate of the Chaubisee and was fully and actively supported by the Jan Sangh, the Congress (0) and the Arya Sabha. Though the Arya Sabha had put up some official candidates in other Constituencies for the election to the Haryana Assembly held in March, 1972 and though the respondent (the appellant) was not their official candidate, the Arya Sabha had somehow taken it for granted that the re ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... prive the respondent (the appellant) of the fruits of the labour of those workers. One has to keep these observations of the learned Judge steadily before one's mind while appreciating the evidence in this case. We shall proceed now to deal with the six findings challenged before us in the order mentioned above. The case with regard to the bribery of candidate Chatru was that Chatru was set up as a candidate by the present appellant in Order to wean away the votes of the Harijans and members of the backward classes from Raj Singh the Congress candidate. There were about 8,000 to 10,000 voters in the Constituency belonging to that category and Chatru, being a member of the backward class, was expected to obtain the votes of those classes which, it is alleged, used to vote solidly in favour of the Congress candidate in former elections. Indeed. Chatru was formally set up as a candidate of the Kisan Mazdoor Party which had come into existence in recent years. But since it was impossible for a member of the backward class to fight an election for want of funds the appellant, it is alleged, agreed to put him in possession sufficient funds to carry on his election campaign. in pu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and the learned Judge has disbelieved or, at any rate, not accepted the story with regard to the payment of ₹ 5,500/-.Chatru in his return of expenses submitted to the Election Commissioner had stated that the total expenditure incurred by him was ₹ 900/-. it was argued that it is well-known that candidates do not make a truthful report about the expenses and, therefore, much significance may not be attached to the statement submitted to the Election Commissioner. Be that as it may, we must further note that Chatru had been set up as a candidate by the Kisan Mazdoor Party which had set up 15 or 16 candidates in other constituencies, also. Top officials of that Party land other sympathizers had campaigned for the success of their candidates and it is admitted by Chatru that the campaign was also made in his behalf in his constituency by his Party. Chatru has given evidence on behalf of himself as R2W1 but his evidence is completely biased against the appellant who is supposed to have helped him with funds in his election campaign. If one goes through his evidence one finds that he has come into the witness box only to prove the case of the Congress candidate Raj Singh. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e appellant who after his election with the help of the Arya Sabha and other Parties had turned disloyal to his supporters. It appears that in the first week of April, 72 i.e. the very week in which the new Assembly was to meet, the appellant decided to join the ruling Congress. Bharat Singh has explained that he was so annoyed by the turn-coat activity of the appellant that he became a party to a conspiracy to create evidence for the purpose of helping the election petition which was expected to be filed by Raj Singh. He said that he had not sent any amount with any body for payment to Chatru on that day and the whole thing was a concoction. The learned judge was no doubt justified in his severe criticism of this witness, but we feel that he lost sight of the caution which he had himself administered with regard to the appreciation of the evidence in this case. The fact is well-established that the former supporters of the appellant had been very much put out by the disloyal activity of the appellant in deciding to join the ruling Congress Party and the witnesses who appeared in support of the election petition made no secret of the fact that they were after the blood of the appel ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... neither the case of Chatru nor of Balbir Singh that the message contained in the writing was read out to Chatru. Nor was his signature taken formally below the writing to the effect that Chatru had received ₹ 1,000/-. Now if this story of Balbir Singh were to be believed we should expect that this document with the signature of Chatru on the reverse should have gone back to Bharat Singh. But he did not get it back. Balbir says that he kept it with himself. According to him some 8 or 10 days after the election on 11-3-72 he told about this payment to one Beg Raj, P.W. 14 who was also a member of the Arya Sabha. He further says that Beg Raj reminded him that they had done a good deal of work for the appellant in the election and now he had given up the Arya Sabha and joined the Congress Party. He, therefore, requested Balbir to accompany him to the defeated Congress candidate Raj Singh to enquire if this information would be of any use to him. So both of them went to Raj Singh at Rohtak and showed him this chit Ext. P.W. 511. Raj Singh asked for the chit but Balbir told him that he will not part with it now, but that he will produce the chit in court and thus when Balbir was e ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nd de- parture from 28-2-1972 to 15-3-1972 . It is true that some entries have been made with regard to vehicles therein but alongwith them other memos are also to be seen in some places and there are entries for some payments also. It was an unpaged book-before it was produced in court. It was paged by order of the learned Judge. Pages 39 to 42 relate to entries showing the distribution of voters lists and other materials to the workers of the appellant. The appellant has accepted these entries as genuine but so far as the other entries are concerned they are not accepted by the appellant. In fact the appellant put forward the case that all the other entries were fabrications made by Munshi Ram after the election. We do not think the, the appellant is telling the truth in that respect. Many entries may be quite true but the book cannot be described as a book kept in the regular course of business. It is kept in a shoddy manner and most irregularly. Many odd entries have been made at odd places. Some entries and memo, important from our point of view, have the distinct appearance of interpolations. The book is not kept continuously. After making some entries on some pages many page ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... that he may. put more vigour in his election campaign. It is also stated that in the. afternoon the amount of ₹ 1,000/- was delivered to Chatru through Balbir Singh If that story is true, one does not see the propriety of Munshi Ram writing such a memo at 3 00 p.m. when he himself did not believe the rumour that Chatru was wanting to withdraw from the contest and was convinced that that rumour had been started by the supporters of Raj Singh falsely. It appears to us that this entry is a suspicious entry made by Munshi Ram, in all probability, after it was decided to make this note book available to the election petitioner. In our opinion, the learned Judge was not justified in relying upon this memo made in an odd place in the book in a very artificial manner. Reference was also made to some other evidence on record to show that since the appellant was very much interested that the backward class and Harijans votes should not go to Raj Singh, the Congress candidate, there was considerable force in the allegation made by Chatru that he had been set up by the appellant with a promise of financial help. In the first place, it must be remembered that Chatru was set up as a ca ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t inclined to agree with the learned Judge that there was any bribery by the appellant within the meaning section of 123(1)(A)(a) of the Act. That brings us to the second question raised by the learned counsel for the appellant. It was contended that even if it was assumed that the appellant had paid Chatru a sum of ₹ 1,000/- on 10-3-1972 the payment was not shown to be with the object of inducing Chatru not to withdraw from being a candidate at the election. The expression postulates that Chatru should want to withdraw from being a candidate but the appellant paid him the amount with the object of inducing him not to withdraw . The learned Judge seems to have understood the expression withdraw from being a candidate as synonymous with Withdraw from the contest or retirement from the contest and the withdrawal or retirement from the contest )nay take place, in his view, at any time before the actual polling. We shall hereafter, show while dealing with the third question raised by the learned counsel for the appellant that the expression withdraw from being a candidate has no application to a situation wherein. 13--M192Sup.CI/75 the withdrawal or retirement f ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ntest. The third question raised by Mr. Sibal on behalf of the appellant is that the provision of section 123(1)(A)(a) which speaks of withdrawal from being a candidate at the election is inapplicable to a situation where a candidate retires from the contest after the date fixed for the withdrawal of his candidature. In making this submission he admits that he is flying in the face of a recent decision of this Court in Mohd Yunus Saleem v. Shivkumar Shastri and others AJ.R. 1974 S.C. 1218. a decision to which one of us (Bhagwati, J) was a party. The judgment of the Court was delivered by Goswami, J. It was held in that case that the expression to withdraw or not to withdraw from being a candidate cannot be confined to the stage where the law permits a candidate to withdraw from the election. It was observed that the expression is of wide amplitude to include a subsequent withdrawal or non-withdrawal even at the last stage prior to the poll. It was held that the word withdraw is comprehensive enough to also connote retire from contest . In that case an allegation had been made that one Surendra Kumar, the alleged financier of the B.K.D. Party, had offered to pay ₹ 30,00 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... (5) of the Act. That relates to the hiring or procuring of a vehicle by a candidate or his agent or by any other person with the consent of the candidate or his election agent for the conveying of voters to or from any polling station free of charge. Out of the several allegations on this score, the learned Judge has accepted as proved allegations which have given rise to Issues Nos. 13(ii) (iii)(iv) and (v). The first two issues relate to two Jeeps alleged to have been used for the purpose, and the last two relate to two trucks. The vehicles concerned are Jeep No. PNN 5021 of which P.W. 26 Rajinder Prasad was the driver. The other Jeep is RSK 669 of which Jagdish Chander, P. N. 27 is the driver.The two trucks involved are HRH 8567 the driver of which was P.W. 24 Jagan Nath and the other truck is HRN 7101 of which P.W. 25 Simran Dass was the driver. We shall deal with the evidence with regard to these vehicles one after another.Jeep No. PNN 5021 The allegation was that this jeep had been procured by the appellant for his election work and that it was used for free carriage of voters to and from the polling station at Madina on the polling date. The principal evidence is that of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... llant for this purpose. In his cross-examination he stated that one Tara Chand, Sarpanch of village Seman had taken him to the appellant. Tara Chand examined as a witness for the appellant (R.W. 18) does not support the statement. In these circumstances, we find it difficult to hold on the bare statement of this witness that on 11th March he had brought voters to Madina polling station. It may well be that this particular jeep had been used in the election campaign and the witness also might have been the driver of the jeep. But we are concerned with what had happened on 11th March, 72, i.e. the polling day and to determine whether this jeep had been used for conveying voters from the village and the fields free of charge. That is the important point to be decided and having regard to the general unreliability of the witness, we do not think that on the bare statement of this witness we can come to the conclusion that this jeep was used for the particular purpose on 11th March, 72. Reference was made to an entry in P.W. 19/1. That entry is made by P.W. 19 Munshi Ram. it purports to say that this jeep was used from 8.00 A.M. to 7.00 P.M. for polling duties. That is the last entry on ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g given this receipt but his case seems to be that the contents thereof are not true. According to him the hiring, as stated earlier, was from 12th February to 12th March. 1972 the hire being ₹ 85/- per day besides the appellant bearing the petrol charges. Thus the receipt given by the witness contradicts the witness both with regard to the total period of hire as also the terms of the hire agreement. Then again his case is that he was attached to the appellant on 11th March, 72 i.e. to say he went along with him wherever be went on that day and visited only two places namely 00 and Sisir. This would mean that the appellant was at these two polling stations only throughout the day when we should normally expect him to be moving from one polling station to another-the total number of polling booths being 73. P.W. 19/1 has kept a record of this jeep from- 28-2-72, its coming and going from day to day. See pages 13 and 14. The last entry with regard to the jeep is at page 14 and it says that it was used for polling for the whole of the day. That entry does no damage to the appellant, because admittedly the jeep had been hired. But the entry on page 23 with regard to another Vehi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... idate or at the instance of somebody else, may with the least risk of exposure substitute a candidate's name for the other, especially, when no documentary evidence of hiring the truck is possible to expect in such a case. The charges of corrupt practice are quasi-criminal in nature and, therefore, the approach to the evidence of the truck drivers must be characterised by great caution. Of the two trucks one is No. HRH 8567 of which P.W. 24 Jagan Nath claims to be the owner/driver. He says that the appellant had himself hired his truck for the polling day agreeing to pay him ₹ 80/per day in addition to bearing all the expenses. According to the witness, he was asked to bring voters from Indergarh to Chandi, the latter place being the polling station. He says that he performed the duty of bringing the voters from 8.00 A.M. till 5.30 P.M. The voters were brought free of charge. He admits that he was intercepted by the Police for transporting passengers which under his licence he could not do, and, in fact, he says he was challenge by the police at about 11.00 A.M. What he means to say is that after his interception he was served with a summons to appear before the Magist ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... river, who was functioning in defiance of the law, we should remember that there is great likelihood of evidence being purchased at small cost so as to upset the whole election. It is an admitted fact that the appellant was a young man fresh from the University and it does not appear that he had much experience of elections. Although he stood as an Independent candidate selected by the Chaubisee he had been given active support by several non-Congress Parties. The Arya Sabha seems to have practically adopted him as its unofficial candidate. Therefore, if any Arya Sabha worker had hired the truck for the purpose of conveying voters without the knowledge or consent of the appellant there is every likelihood of the truck driver being persuaded to name the appellant for the Arya Sabha workers. The truck driver is also not shown to be very reliable in other respects. Though he was challenge at 11.00 A.M. he purports to say that he plied the truck till 5.30 p.m. We think this is very improbable because he had already been caught by the P.S.I. and he won't be so fool-hardy as to persist in the offence after 11.00 A.M. Then again he admits that he had to pay a fine of ₹ 200/- But ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... an important difference. The driver of the truck is P.W. 25 Simran Das and it is established by his evidence and. the evidence of P.W. 9 Sub-Inspector Jaswant Rai and Exts. P.W. 25/1, P.W. 9/2 and P.W. 25/2 which are documents relating to the charge of carrying passengers in breach of the Motor/Vehicles Act that the truck was being used for the carrying of electors from the polling Station at Seman back to the village Bedwa. It appears that the truck was intercepted by the Sub-Inspector Jaswant Rai at 4.00 p.m. If that was the only evidence in the case we would have taken the same view as in the case of the other truck already discussed. But the difference lies in the fact that the election petitioner has examined in this came an elector named Mani Ram P.W. 30 whose evidence has been accepted by the learned Judge and which we find no sufficient reason to reject. Mani Ram is a resident of Bedwa and he says that as there was no Polling Station in his village he had to cast his vote at the Polling Station at Seman alongwith other villagers of Bedwa. He further says that he and other voters of that village went to Seman in a truck provided by the appellant and that truck bore the flags ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ought to the notice of the court that Dilbagh had turned hostile and therefore the appellant was not examining him. Moreover it would appear from Mani Ram's evidence that a number of named electors from the village had gone with him in the truck to cast their votes and it should not have been difficult to demolish Mani Ram's evidence by calling the named electors to say that they had not actually travelled in that truck. Instead of doing so, the appellant examined a number of witnesses like R.W. Rajmal, R.W. 18 Tara Chand, R.W. 19 Sadhu Ram etc. whose evidence is merely negative in the sense that they say that they did not see a truck plying between Bedwa and Seman for carrying voters. In view of the positive evidence that this truck had be-en used for conveying voters that kind of evidence is of little value. The learned Judge has accepted the evidence of P.W. Mani Ram and we don't see sufficient reason to reject it. We therefore- confirm the finding of the learned Judge that the truck No. HRR 7101 had been hired by the appellant for the conveyance of the electors to and from the polling station at Seman free of charge. So far we have dealt with the appellant's cha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ear admission of a corrupt practice. We have carefully gone, through the evidence of this witness and we don't think that we can accept his evidence at its face value. It appears that Dhir Singh had come on leave in February 72 and was in the village till 4th April 72. The village to which he belongs is Behalba. In his examination by Court he only admitted that he had been appointed as polling agent. It is conceded that in view of the Amendments of 1966 acting as a Polling agent by a member of the Armed Forces would not amount to a corrupt practice u/s 123(7). It was in his cross- examination by the election Petitioners that the aforesaid admission was made. In his cross-examination by the appellant he stated that he had met the appellant only about 5 or 6 days before the election and it is his case that at that. time the appellant had requested him to vote for him. He also says that he had nothing more to say to him. Finally he says I did nothing more for Umed Singh (the appellant) except acting as his Polling agent. Now this goes contrary to the previous statement that the appellant had come to his village about four times that he used to come to his house as if he was his ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ate for withdrawal of candidature under section 37 is past comes within the mischief of section 123(1)(A)(a) of the Representation of the People Act 1951. The determination of this question turns primarily on the true construction of the words to withdraw or not to withdraw from being a candidate at an election in section 123(1)(A)(a) but in order to arrive at a proper interpreta- tion it is necessary to look at the scheme of the relevant provisions of the Act. Part V of the Act sets out the machinery for the conduct of elections. Section 30 provides that as soon as the notification calling upon a constituency to elect a member or members is issued, the Election CommisSion shall appoint the last date for making nominations, the date for the scrutiny of nominations, the last date for the withdrawal of candidatures, the date or dates on which a poll shall, if necessary, be taken arid the date before which the election shall be completed. The first step which has to be taken after the issue of a notification appointing these dates is nomination of candidates for the election and that is dealt with in section 32. If a person wishes to stand for the election he has to be validly no ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... forthwith declare all such candidates to be elected and the Election Commissioner is to call upon. the constituency to elect a person or persons to fill the remaining seat or seats. We may then refer to section 55A which was introduced in the Act by the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act 27 of 1956. This sections speaks of retirement from contest at elections in parliamentary And assembly constituencies. Some of the provisions of this section are material and we may reproduce them as follows Sec. 55A(2) A contesting candidate may retire from the contest by a notice in the prescribed form which shall be delivered to the returning officer between the hours of eleven o'clock in the forenoon and three o'clock in the afternoon of any day not later than. ten days prior to the date or the first of the dates fixed for the poll under clause (d) of section 30 either by such candidate in person or by an agent authorised in this behalf in writing by such candidate. (3)No person who has given a notice of retirement under sub-section (2) shall be allowed to cancel the notice. (4)The returning officer shall, upon receiving a notice of retirement under sub- section(2) cau ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed from contest; or (ii)an elector for having voted or refrained from voting. Section 55A had, however, a very short life and within a couple of years it was deleted by the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act 58 of 1958. Since the provision for retirement from contest enacted in section 55A was done away with by this amendment, consequential changes were also made in clauses (a) and (i) of sub-section (1) of section 123 by deleting the words or to retire from contest from clause (a) and the words or for having retired from contest from clause (1). Certain other changes were also made in sub-section (1) of section 123 but they are not material. It will be seen that at this stage it was an essential ingredient of the corrupt practice of bribery that the object of offering gratification should be to induce a person to stand or' not to stand, or to withdraw from being a candidate, at an election. If gratification was offered with the object of inducing a person not to withdraw from being candidate at an election, it was not within the mischief of the section. The Representation of the People (Amendment) Act 4 of 1966, therefore, added the words or not to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in order to ascertain the true intention of the legislature the court must not only look at the words used by the legislature, but also have regard to the context and the setting in which they occur. The context and the collection of the words may induce the court to depart from their ordinary meaning, for these may show that the words were not intended to be used in the sense which they ordinarily bear. The exact colour and shape of the meaning of words in an enactment is not to be ascertained by reading them in isolation. They must be read structurally and in their context, for their signification may vary with their contextual setting. Of course, when we speak of the context, I mean it in a wide sense which requires that provisions which bear upon the same subject matter must be read as a whole and in their entirety, each throwing light and illumining the meaning of the other. It is in the light of these principles of interpretation that I must proceed to examine the language of subsection (1) (A) of section 123 and construe the words to withdraw or not to withdraw from being a candidate occurring in clause (a) of that sub-section. Clause (a) consists of two parts. The firs ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r a situation where a validly nominated candidate withdraws his candidature under section 37 by giving a notice in writing on or before the last date fixed for the withdrawal of candidatures. But the controversy was as to whether they include something more. Do they apply to a situation where, after the last date for the withdrawal of candidatures under section 37 his past, a contesting candidate announces that he does not wish to contest the election, or in other words, retires from the contest, or to use a more colloquial expression, sits down? The appellant contended that they do not, while the first respondent asserted the contrary. In the first place, let us see what the words to withdraw from being a candidate mean according to their plain natural sense. This Court in mohd. Yunus Saleem's case (supra) relied on the dictionary meaning of the word withdraw', namely. to go away or retire from the field of battle or any contest . But it must be noted that the word withdraw' does not stand alone. It is part of a composite expression The crucial words are to withdraw-from being a candidate . They clearly indicate that what is contemplated is cesser or termination ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ion 30(c) and section 37. Section 30(c) speaks of the last date for the withdrawal of candidatures and how the candidature may be withdrawn on or before this last date is provided in section 37. Obviously the expression withdrawal of candidature' is used by the legislature in these sections in the sense of withdrawal before the last date fixed for withdrawal of candidature as contemplated in section 37. Then, does it not stand to reason that when the legislature has used the same expression in another part of the Act, namely, sub-section (1) (A) and (1) (B) of section 123, it has used it in the same sense ? It is a reasonable presumption to make, though, I must admit, this presumption is not of much weight and can be displaced by the context, that the same meaning is implied by the use of the same expression in every part of an Act. For example, in Mills v. Mills [1963] P, 329the word proceedings' was held to bear the same meaning in the several paragraphs of section 2(2) of the Legal Aid and Advice Act, 1949 and in LR.C. v. Henry Ansbacher Co., [1963] A.C. 191.the House of Lords refused to attribute to the word security (in Sched. I to the Stamps Act 1891) different me ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e succeeding words to retire from contest superfluous and meaningless. The Court must proceed on the basis that the Words to retire from a contest were deliberately and advisedly introduced by the legislature with a definite purpose of adding something which had not been said in the immediately preceding words and were not intended merely to repeat what was already enacted there. The words to withdraw from being a candidate could not, therefore, at that stage be read as applying to an event where a contesting candidate retires from the contest. They had a clearly well-defined meaning confined to withdrawal of candidature under section 37. And if that was the meaning then, the subsequent deletion of the word; to retire from contest could not have the effect of adding to or expanding it. It is true that this Court took a different view in Mohd. Yunus Saleem's case, (supra) but I think that view is erroneous. It overlooks various important considerations which we have discussed above. It emphasises the etymological meaning of the word withdraw' ignoring its contextual setting and inter-relation with the other provisions of the Act. The explanation which this Court g ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... be legitimately ascertained from what it has chosen to enact, either in express words or by reasonable and necessary implication. The function of the Court is to gather the intention of the legislature from the words used by it and it would not be right for the Court to attribute an intention to the legislature, which though not justified by the language used by it, accords with what the court conceives to be reason and good sense and then bend the language of the enactment so as to carry out such presumed intention of to legislature. For the Court, to do so would be to overstep its limits. Here, the legislature has used the words to withdraw-from being a candidate and in the context of the Act, for reasons which we have given above, they cannot include retirement from contest after the last date for withdrawal of candidature under section 37 is past. Even if, as observed in Mohd. Yunus Saleem's case, (supra) the word withdraw' were etymological comprehensive enough to connote retirement from contest'. it cannot be given that meaning here, because, apart altogether from other reasons already discussed, retirement from contest is something impossible under the Act ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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