Prahladdas Khandelwal v. Narendra Kumar Salve

Judgment

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : C.A. No. 290.i of 1971. Appeal under S. 116-A of the Represent~tion of the Poople Act, 1951 dated October 4, 1971 of the Madhya Pra.desh High Court at Jabalpur in E.P. No. 3 of 1971. S. S. Khanduja, Pramod Swarttp and Lalita Kohli for the appellant. N. A. Palkhiwa/a, A. S. Bobde and J. B. Dadacha11ji for the respondent. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by GROVER, J. This is an appeal from a judgment of the Madhya l'radesh High Co11rt in an election petition filed by the appellant Prahladdas Khandclwal one of the candidates for the Mid-term election to the Lok Sabha from the Betul Parliamentary Constituency No. 26 in the State of Madhya Pradesh challenging the election of the respondent Narendra Kumar Salave-the returned candidate. Some of the material dates may be noticed. The notification calling for the election was issued on January 27, 1971.

The last dale for filing the nomination paper was February 3, 1971~ the scrutiny was to lake place on February 4, 1971. The election was to be actually held on March 4, 1971 and the election result was to be declared on March 11. 1971. The appellant filed his nomination paper on February 2, 1971. An acknowledgement of the receipt of the nomination paper was given by the Assistant Returning Officer. The Assistant Returning Officer gave a certificate under Art. 84 of the Constitution that the appellant had been administered the oath as required under that Article. Jn this certificate there was a mention of 26th Betul Parliamentary Constituency. According to the evidence of the Assistant Returning Officer Shri S. K. Sharma R.W. 2, in the nomination paper which the appellant filed there was no mention of the Parliamentary Constituency from which he was contesting the election. This defect was pointed out to him by the Assistan't I fl PRAHLADDAS v. N. K. SALAVE (Grover, J.)

Returning Olficer but it appears that the appellant did not cure that detect. On February 4, 1971 which was the date fixed for scrutiny the nomination. paper of the appellant was rejected by the Returmng Ollicer Slu-i Koma! Singh Thakur, Collector <;Jf Betul on the oojection of one Goverdhandas. The ground given for rejection was that the name of lhe Constituency f?r which ~e t1ppellant had filed the nomination paper was not mentioned therem. The Returning Officer held that owing to this defect which was of a substantial character the nomination paper was invalid. The sole ground in the election petition filed by the appellant was that his nomination paper had been erroneously and wrongly rejected by the Returning Officer. In paragraph 6 it was stated that a blank nomination form had been purchased by him from the Election Office, Betul. All the details mentioned in the form were properly filled in. There was no separate space left in the form to mention the name of the Constituency.

It was asserted that there was difference between the nomination fonn in Hindi and in English and even if the r,ame of the Constituency was necessary to be mentioned the Assistant Returning Officer should have got it filled up under proviso to s.33 ( 4) of the Representation of People Act 1951. In other paragraphs of the petition it was pleaded that the certificate relating to the oath clearly contained a mention of the 26th Betul Parliamentary Constituency and, therefore, the Returning Officer was in a position to know from which Constituency the appellant was contesting the election. It was claimed that the alleged defect was not of a substantial character and the nomination paper could not ha\'e been rejected by the Returning Officer. The respondent resisted the election petition on the ground, F inter alia, that there was no defect in the nomination form supplied to the appellant. The omission to mention the name of the Constituency was a defect of substantial character.

It was denied that it was the duty of the Assistant Returning Officer to _get the substantial defect in the nomination form rectified,_ The sole issue which arose for decision was whether the nomination paper of the appelll lant had been wrongly rejected. The High Court gave the following findings : (I) The nomination paper in Hindi (Ext. P-2) is the authoritative text of the form prescribed under the Act and the rules made 1 hereunder: (2) Neither the name nor the number of the Constituency was l))entioncd in the nomination paper, (Ext. P-2). (~ 'J Th~ omission to mention the name of the Constituency ''·''" ~' clckct of a substantial character. ( 4) The Returning Officer was not enjoined under the law to go beyond the nomination paper and to find out for which Constituency a particular candidate had been, nominated. (5) The statutory requirements of the Election Law have to be strictly applied.

As the nomination paper of t;he appellant was found to be defective the defe-::t being of a substantial character the Returnbg Officer was justified in rejecf!ng it Apart from that the appellant did not get the defect rectified even though the same had been pointed out ~o.him by th Assistant Returning Officer. The first question that has to be detem1ined is whether the nomination form which was supplied was misleading or defective and for that .reason i~ was not possible to fill in the name of the Parlian1entary Constituency from which the appellant was contesting the electi.on. Selection 2( 1 )(g) of the Conduct of Elections Rule~. 1961 gives the meaning of the word "Fonn". It means a Form appended to the rules and in respect of any election in a state includes a ~anslation thereof in any of the languages used for official purposes of the State. Rule 4 provides that every nomination paper presented unde.r sub-s. ( l) of s.

33 shall be completed in such one of the Forms 2A to 2E as may be appropriate. Form 2A l elates to the nomination paper to be filed for election to the House of the People. According to s. 5 ( 1) of the Official Language Act 1963 a translation in Hindi published under the authority of the President in the Official Gazette on or after the appointed day, inter alia, of any order, rule regulation or bye-law issued under the Constitution or under any Central Act shall. be deemed to be the authoritative text thereof in Hindi. Form 2A as prescribed by the Conduct of Elections Rules 1961 in English is as follows : "FORM 2A I nominate as a candidate for election llo the House of the People from the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Parliamentary Constituency. Candidates' name ................ , ........ . His postal address ............... , ..................... . His name is entered at S. No ........... in Part No .......... . of the electoral roll for ..........

(assembly constituency comprised within) .......... Parliamentary Constituency. My name .is ................................ and it is eJJtered at S. No ............ in Part No ............... of the) elector.al rol~ ~or .............. : ... (Assembly constituency compnsed w1thm) ................ Parliamentary constituency. Date. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Signature of Proposer) J. the abovementioned ll L II PRAHLADDAS v. N. K. SALAVE (Grover, J.) The nomination form in Hindi used in the Mid-term Elections 1971 begins with the word "Main" (1). Then there is a blank space which is followed by these worels "<i«itf'< l'l'IT"'!if-1i!of ,; WT'li 'tl•H i t~"ffifil" ~ Hii!; 0!>'11""fl 'li <ft; .{ T'l•ifF'IT<S!<f <ft ;i,11 F1R<SC: 'f><:<f, i!;- ai~r<ff 'liT 'Ill! .......................... <r<I<t>I ~·'" ~«n ......... . .,..,.,r 'l1ir ...................... ««G:i.:r tif"!\'l"f ei'if"

If the form were to be read in the same way as if it were in the bngusn 1anguuge an 1mpress1on 1s likely to oe created that ari.er th.: word "'l 1ue proposer nas to lill in ills own name as was actually done m \he pres.:m case Ill r.xt. P-2. But any one !amiliar with the Hmdi language would not read it that way and the blank space in tne context, u will be understood, is meant for filling in the name of Ule Parliamentary Constituency. If that is not done the name of the Constituency tor which the candidate is ·being nominated cannot IJnd any mention in the material part of the form. It could never be contemplated that the official translators who are presumed to be fully conversant with the Hindi language would have cr_aslated the tmghsh form in such a way as to leave out the name of the Parliamentary Constituency altogether for which the canelidate is being proposed.

It may be mentioned that tb an ordinary person a wrong impression may be conveyed that after the word "l" he has t:O give his own name but even if he gives his own name he can ·indicate the name of the Parliamentary Constituency thereafter which would make the form complete in every respect. It appears that the Election Commission of India addre>sed a letter, Ext. R-4, to the Secretary, Official Language Legislative Commission saying that the Hindi translation of Form 2A appeared to be defective in some respects and it was suggested that in paragraph I of the Form as shown in Ext. R-5 after the word "Main" (I) in Hindi the name of the Parliamentary Constituency must be mention~d. Indeed it had been pointed out in a judgment of the Allahabad High Court in Kashi Prasad v. H arigen Ram and Anotlier( 1) that the Hindi Form might have caµsed·some confusion as there also a similar defect appeared as in Ext. P-2 here and the name of the Constituencv had not been mentioned.

The Court held thet since the name. of the Constituencv was not mentioned the defect was of a substantial· nature and the Retumin!! Offi 0 er shon1d have reiected the nomination naner. Rut as stated h~fore it was oointedJv·mentioned that thei Hindi form mi~ht have cmi<ed some confu,ion and the nroooser would hav<> heen well arfo;,.d in· con,ultin!! some comnetent nef<'cm &fore lillin<! it in. TTnf"rtunatclv it appear> and that is supnorted by the evidence of Shri l,EJ;ctif'\n PPtitirii No. 44 of 1967 ~ccided on Jtlnu2ry, 19. 1C:f'.e 12-L348Sup.C.I./73 SUPREME COUJlT REPORTS Kom~l Singh Returning Officer that the amendment proposed by the .tlecllon Comm1ss1on o~ India was not given elfect to although cenam other amendments in the Form were made in accordance with tne procedure prescrrbed by the Act and the Rules. The appe!Jant nas not been able to show any error in the conclusion of the High Court that the Form Ext.

P-2 was not the prescribed FO!])l under the Act and the Rules and the same had been sent for the purpose of the election in question by the Chief Electoral Officer, Mad.nya Pradesh, to the Returning Officer Shri Koma! Singh. In \he Election Petition the sole grievance ol. the appellant was that there was no separa(e space in tne nollllDation form where the name of the Constituency could be mentioned. lt was not suggested that the proposer, whose name was Ajudhia Prasad or the appellant, had been misled in any way by the language of the Hindi Form. The appellant who gave evidence as P. W. l deposed that he had hinlself tilled up the nomination form Ext. P-2 and got it signed by his proposer. There was no place for mentioning the name of the Constituency and therefore it was not mentioned. The appellant is not only a law graduate but has also worked as Civil Judge for some years and resumed practice in January 1968. Shri S. K. Sharma the Assistant Returning Officer to whom the nomination paper w.J handed over gave evidence as P.W. 2.

He stated that he had told the appellant that the name of the Constituency should be mentioned but the latter replied that there was no such space for writing the name of the Constituency in the nomination paJi>C!:. Shri Sharma further stated, "I again· told him that after the word "'Main" (I) in the nomination paper the name of the Constituency should be mentioned and you would realise the same if you would minutely read the form. Thereupon the petitioner said "I know my own job". The learned trial judge has believed this evidence and nothing has been shown why it should not have been so believed. We concur with the High Court that the form on which the nomination of the appellant was made (Ext. P-2) was the one which had been statutorily_ prescribed and that there was a complete omission to mention the name· of the Parliamentary Constituency for which the appellant was being nominated as a candidate.

Furf hermore the Assistant Returning Officer had drawn the attention of the appellant to this omission and yet the defect was not cured. This was done notwithstanding the fact, as will be presently seen, that wliere the defect is of a substantial character and is not of the nature contemplated by 'Ille Act and the Rules it is not the duty of the Returning Officer to get this defect rectified or omission completed. The next question is whether the omission to mention the. name of the 26th Betul Parliamentary Constituency in Ext. P-2 ll II 8 PRAHLADDAS v. N, K. SALAVE (Grover, J.) was a defect of a substantial character by reason of which the nomination paper must be rejected by the Returning Officer. Section 3 3 deals with the presentation of the nomination paper . and requirements for a valid nomination. It has to be presented after being completed in the prescribed form and signed by the candidate and by an elector of the Constituency as proposer.

Sub-section 4 of that section is to the following effect : "On the presentation of a nomination paper, the returning Officer shall satisfy that the names and electoral roll numbers of the candidate and his proposer as entered in the nomination paper are the same as those entered in the electoral rolls" .. (I) [1955] I S.C.Ro 481. (2} [1970] I S.C.R. 530, [1973] 2 s.c.~. that stage remedy essential defects or permit them to be remedied. It. is not open to him to reject a nomination paper on .the ground of .a technical defect which is not of a substantial .character. But }le cannot re!Dedy that defect. He must leave it as it is. If it is technical and non-substantial it will not matter. In the second case the following observations at page 533 are noteworthy : "The requirement under s. 33 ( 1) of the Act that the nomination shall be signed by the candidate and by the proposer is mandatory.

Signing, whenever signature is necessary, must be in strict accordance with the requirements of the Act and where the signature cannot be written it must be authorised in the manner prescribed by the Rules. Attestation is not a mere technical or unsubstantial requirement within the meaning of s. 36( 4) of the Act and cannot be dispensed with. The attestation and the . satisfaction must exist at the stage of presentation and omission of such an essential feature may not be subsequently validated at the stage of scrutiny any more than the omission of a candidate to sign at all could have been". In ihis case the earlier decision in Rattan Anmol Singh's(') case wa5 followed. There can be no manner of do;ibt that in the present case there .has been a failure to comply with the provisions of s. 33 inasmuch as the name of the Constituency was not stated in the nomination paper which, therefore, could not be treated as having been completed in the prescribed form as required by s.

33 (1) of the Representation of the People Act. This defect was essentially of a substantial character and did not fall within those provisions where the Returning Officer is enjoined either to get the defect rectified or'ignore it. It was not the duty of the Return- . ing Officer at the stage of the scrutiny to draw the attention of the appellant to the aforesaid substantial defect for the purpose of getting the same cured. The Returning Officer was fully justified in. rejecting the nomination paper. The appeal fails and it is dismissed. Parties will bear their own costs. (I) [1955] I S.C.R. 481. PRAHLADDAS v. N. K. SALAVE (Grover, l.)

A copy each of this judgment should be sent to the Election Commission, India, as also the Secretary, Ministry of Law for drawing their attention to the observations with regard to the nomination paper 2A (in Hindi version) prescribed for numination of a candidate for election to the House of the People and the desirabiiity of accepting the suggestion made by the Election Commission in its letter dated Augnst 24, 1968, to the Secretary, Official Languages (Legislative) Commission, New Delhi, being Exhibit R-7 in the above case or adding explanatory notes in the prescribed form in Hindi language. V.P.S. Appeal dismissed .