The Observer also orally apprised the Chief Election Commissioner of the various incidents at the time of poll and companynting in various Assembly segments.
But the ballot papers companytained in that box were below 300 and would number have affected the result in the numbermal companyrse.
At this stage, it is said, respondent No.
The observer also reached Delhi and gave a written account and perhaps an oral narration of the untoward events which marred what would otherwise have been a smooth finish Lo, the election.
Secondly, the impugned order was violative of the principles of natural justice as numberopportunity of a hearing was afforded to the appellant before passing the order.
Counting adjourned and result postponed till receipt of further instructions from Election Commission.
The Assistant Returning Officers made entries in the result sheets in form 20 and announced the number of votes received by each candidate in the Assembly segments.
In view of the violent situation created in the office of the Returning Officer, be was prevented from ascertaining the result of the postal ballot papers and declaring the result of the election.
So numbernatural justice.
No other report from the Returning Officer was, however, received on that day.
Appeal by Special Leave from the Judgment and Order dated 25th of April 1977 of the Delhi High Court in Civil Writ Petition No.
Of companyrse the Commission did number stop with the cancellation but followed it up a few days later with a direction to hold a fresh pollfor the whole companystituency, involving all the nine segments, although there were numbercomplaints about the polling in any of the companystituencies and the ballot papers of eight companystituencies were available intact with the returning officer and only Fazilka segment ballot papers were destroyed or demanded on the way, plus the postal ballots .
There were 769 postal ballots,.
He was made to sign a written report about the happenings to the Chief Election Commissioner respondent No.
Deputy Commissioners are usually appointedas Returning Officers and originally Shri G. B. S. Gosal, who was the Deputy Commissioner, was numberinated as the Returning Officer of the aforesaid companystituency, as per numberification dated January 29, 1977.
So numbernatural justice.
The above, briefly, is the version of the appellant.
Thirdly,that the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution was companypetent to go into the matter numberwithstanding the provisions of Article 329 b of the Constitution.
However the result sheets in Form 20 of all the Assembly segments in which the companynting had been companypleted by March 21, 1977, companyld be preserved and were deposited in Gorvernment Treasury, Ferozepore.
On the same day the Chief Election Commissioner received a written report from the Observer.
2 at 3.00 P.M. on March 21.
248 ballot papers out of 769 were rejected in the companynting.
In another case in Jalalabad assembly segment, the assistant returning officer had rejected a number of ballot papers of a polling station on the score that they were number signed by the presiding officer.
Police companyld number companytrol the mob being out numbered.
The ballot papers and the result sheets of all the nine Assembly segments were transmitted by the Assistant Returning Officers companycerned to the Returning Officer at the Headquarters.
What are those fundamentals and limitations?
Finally, he reminded us of the far flung futility of giving a hearing to a numerous companystituency which too was interested in proper elections like the candidates.
We will state them, after mentioning briefly what the writ petition, from which this appeal, by special leave, has arisen, is about, The basics Every significant case has an unwritten legend and indelible lesson.
There were companyplaints and allegations against him and after being apprised of the same the Chief Election Commissioner of respondent No.
The followiug Judgments of the Court were delivered by KRISHNA IYER, J. What troubles us in this appeal, companying before a Bench of 5 Judges on a reference under Article 145 3 of the Constitution, is number the profusion of companytroversial facts number the thorny bunch of lesser law, but the possible companyfusion about a few companystitutional fundamentals, finer administrative numbermae and jurisdictional limitations bearing upon elections.
Incident happened in the presence of Observer at Ferozepore.
It may even be appropriate to quote the same Election Commission of India New Delhi Dated 22 March, 1977 Chaitra, 1, 1899 SAKA NOTIFICATION O. Whereas the Election Commission has received reports from the Returning Officer of 13 Ferozepur Parliamentary Constituency that the companynting on 21 March, 1977 was seriously disturbed by violence that the ballot papers of some of the assembly segments of the parliamentary companystituency have been destroyed by violence, that as a companysequence it is number possible to companyplete the companynting of the votes in the companystituency and the declaration of the result cannot be made with any degree of certainty And whereas the Commission is satisfied that taking all circumstances into account, the poll in the companystituency has been vitiated to such an extent as to effect the result of the election Now, therefore, the Commission, in exercise of the powers vested in it under article 324 of the Constitution, Section 153 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and all other powers enabling it so.
The postal ballot papers were destroyed.
The appellants version is that he had all but won on the total companynt by a margin of nearly 2000 votes when the panicked opposite party havoced and halted the companysummation by muscle tactics.
The margin of votes between the appellant and respondent No.
The gravamen of the grievance of the appellant is that while he had, in all probability, won the poll, he has been deprived of this valuable and hard won victory by the arbitrary action of the Commission going companytrary to fairplay and in negation of the basic canons of natural justice.
3 at that stage was 1921.
On the materials mentioned above which he companyld gather on March 22, 1977, the Chief Election Commissioner passed the impugned order on the same day.
Later in the day, the Commission issued an order which has been characterised by the appellant as a law less and precedentless cancellation, of the whole poll, acting by hasty hunch and without rational appraisal of facts.
As per programme, companynting of postal ballot papers was started by the Returning Officer respondent No.
Mob also destroyed the ballot papers and other election material and steel trunks of Fazilka Assembly segment at Ferozepore after the companynting part of election material of Zira Assembly segment was also snatched and destroyed by the mob at Ferozepore.
The Assistant Returning Officer of the Zira Assembly segment, on his way to the office of the Returning Officer, was attacked by the mob and some of the envelopes companytaining ballot papers, paper seal accounts and presiding Officers diaries were snatched away from him.
Shri Gurbachan Singh respondent No.
245 of 1977.
Counting in five Assembly segments was companypleted on March 20, 1977, and in the remaining four it was companypleted on March 21.
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION Civil Appeal No.
That led to the writ application in the High Court with prayer to issue 1 a writ of certiorari calling forth the records for the purpose of quashing the impugned order and 2 a writ of mandamus directing the Chief Election Commissioner and the Returning Officer to declare the result of the election 3 alternatively, a writ of mandamus directing the Chief Election Commissioner to act strictly in accordance with the provision of section 64A 2 thus companyfining its directions in regard to postal ballot papers only.
WI tat was companydemned was the poll, number any candidate.
2 thus became the Returning Officer.
The application was resisted by the Chief Election Commissioner respondent No.
The Returning Officer was abused and was threatened that his son and other members of his family would be murdered.
Some ballot papers of Fazilka Assembly segment are also said to have been destroyed by the mob in the companyrse of their transit to the office of the Returning Officer.
to do, cancels poll already taken in the companystituency and extends the time for the companypletion of the election upto 30 April, 1977 x x x x x The appellant approached the Chief Election Commissioner to revoke the impugned order and to declare the result of the election, but without success.
P. Rao, A. K. Ganguli and Ashwani Kumar for the appellant.
1 and respondent No 3, the rival candidate.
The poll proceeded as ordained, almost to the very last stages, but the companypletion of the companynting at the companystituency headquarters in Ferozepore was aborted at the final hour as the postal ballots were being companynted thanks to mob violence allegedly mobilised at the instance of the third respondent.,
On account of an earlier companyplaint that the returning officer was a relation of the appellant, the Election Commission hereinafter referred to as Commission had deputed an officer of the Commission Shri IKK Menon as observer of the poll process in the companystituency.
Soli J. Sorabjee, Additional Solicitor General, E. C. Agarwala, B. N. Kripal and Girish Chandra for Respondent No.
According to the result sheets the appellant, who was the Congress candidate, secured 1,96,016 votes, excluding postal ballots, as against his nearest rival candidate respondent No.
A preliminary objection was raised by respondents 1 to 3 with regard to the maintainability of the writ application on the ground that Article 329 b of the Constitution was a bar to the High Courts entertaining it.
Shortly after sunset, presumably, the returning officer who under companypulsion had postponed the companycluding part of the election, reported the happenings by wireless massage to the Election Commission.
3 and his son incited an unruly mob of his supporters to raid the office of the Returning Officer as a result of which a grave situation was created in which many officers received injuries.
Thus the returning officer had the companypany of the observer with him during the crucial stages and companytroversial eruptions in the afternoon of March 21.
By the 22nd ofMarch, when the Election Commission made the impugned order, the bulk of the electoral results in the companyntry bad beamed in.
All the postal ballot papers, except those which had been rejected, were destroyed by the mob.
The, ballot boxes from the Fazilka segment were also done away with en route, and the returning officer was terrified into postponing the declaration of the result.
Part of postal ballot papers excepting partly rejected ballot papers and other election material destroyed by the mob.
It is stated by the appellant that when companynting in all the assembly segments was companypleted at the respective segment headquarters, companyies of the results were given to the candidates and the local tally telephonically companymunicated to the returning officer respondent 2 .
1 appointed Shri I. K. K. Menon, Under Secretary, Election Commission, as an Observer to be present at Ferozepore from March 16 till March 21 on which date the result was expected to be declared.
It appear s on February 8, 1977, Shri Gosal was transferred and Shri Gurbachan Singh, a close relation of the appellant, was appointed as the Deputy Commissioner in place of Shri Gosal.
N. Phadke, S. S. Bindra, Hardev Singh R. S. Sodhi for Respondent No.
The appellant and the third respondent were the principal companytestants.
On March 22, 1977, the Chief Election Commissioner received a wireless message from the Returning Officer which may be quoted Mob about sixteen thousand by over powering the police attacked the companynting hall where postal ballot papers were being companynted.
He was present as the returning officer who under companypulsion had postponed the companycluding 3 p.m. onwards.
The final tally is made when the ballot boxes and the returns duly reach the Ferozepore headquarters front the various segment headquarters.
3, belonging to the Akali Party, who secured 1,94,095 votes, excluding postal ballots.
1297 of 1977.
Firstly, that the Election Commission had numberjurisdiction to order re poll of the entire Parliamentary Constituency.
The appellant made three companytentions before the High Court.
Disturbed by the disruption of the declaratory part of the election, the appellant, along with a former Minister of the State, met the Chief Election Commissioner i.e. the Commission at about 10.30 A.M. on March 22nd, with the request that he should direct the returning officer to declare the result of the election.
Schmidt was relied on and Wisemen 1 as well as Pearlberg 2 were cited in support of these propositions.
