 the representation of the people (amendment) bill, 1961(to be indoducpd in lox sabra)  the representation of the people (amendment) bill, 1961 (to be introduced in lolc sabra)a bill further to amend the representation of the people act, 1950, and the representation of the people act, 1951, and to make certain minor amendments in the two-member constituencies (a,bolition) act, 1961 be it enacted by parliament in the twelfth year of the republic of india as follows:- chapter i preliminary$ 1 (1) this act may be called the representation of the people sbor title and q)jd-(amendment) act, 1961 iqenc:ement (2) it shan come into force on such date as the central government may, by notification in the offtcial gazette, appoint  chapter ii amendment 01' the repilesentation of the prople acr, 185010 2 in section 23 of the representation of the people act, 1950 ~~dt (hereinafter referred to as the 1950-act), sub-sections (4) and (5) of~'::~~ ~ shall be omitted 19s0 3 after section 23 of the 1950-act, the following sections shall be idlertio~ of - __  :1 1  new lectlons is ulifc'hc\i, name y -after iectiod "24 an appeal shall lie within such time and in such manner ~~ • as may be prescribed-(4) to the chief electoral oftlcer, from any order of the electoral relistration offtcer under section 22 or section 23, and (b) to the election commission, from any order of thi chief electoral officer under section 23 25 every application under section 22 or section 23 and f!!very appeal under section 24 shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee which shall, in no case, be refunded" s 4 in section 27 of the 1950-act,-fee for applications and appeals amendment of kctioq 27 (a) in sub-section (5)-(i) in clause (a), for the words "on the qualifying date was", the word "is" and for the words "before that date", the words "before the qualifying date" shall be substituted; 10 (ii) in -clause (b), for the words "on the qualifying date was", the word "is" and for the 'words "before that date", the words "before the qualifying date" shall be substituted; (b) for sub-secti~n (6), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely: -15 "(6) for the purposes of sub-sections (4) and (5), the qual~ing -date sball be the 1st day of november of the year in whiehthepreparatior or revision of the electoral roll is commenced" 5 in section 28' of the 1950-act, for sub-section (8), the following :'0 ~=i':e~t sub-section shall be substituted, namely:-" (3) every rule made under this act shall be laid as soon as may be after it is made before each house of parliament while it is in session for a total period of thirty days which maybe comprised in one session or in two successive seaions, and if, before 2( the expiry of the session in which it is so laid or the sessioft immediaely fouowidg, both ijouses agree that the rule shuuld be either modified or annulled, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect as the case may be; so, however that any such modification or annulment shall30 be wlithout prejudice to the- vaudity of anything previously done under that rule" 6 in the fo\lrth schedule to the 1950 act-amendnllm of the pourth sabedule (a) the heading "bombay" and the entries under that head idg shall  be omitted; '3' (b) after the heading "madras" and the entries thereunder, the following heacling ,and entries shall be inserted, namely:- "maharashtra1 m~icipal committees 2 diatrlct local boarda 3 cantonment boards 4 district boards i 5 town committees 6 janapada sabhas (rural circle) "; (c)·under the heading "mysore"-5 (1) for the entry "2 district boards and district local boards" the entry "2 taluk development boards" shall be substituted; (2) the entry "5 village panchayats with a population 10 of not less than five thousand" shall be omitted  chapter til amendment of the representation of the people act, 19517 in section 30 of the 1951 act,-alnendmeat of jlctioa 30 (a) in clause (a), for the words "tenth day", the words "seventh day" shall be substituted; i, (b) in clause (b), for the words "third day", the words "second day" shall be substituted 8 in section 33 of the 1951-~ct, for sub-section (6), the follow- amendmellt ing sub-section shall be substituted, namely:-of section 33 20 "(6) nothing in' this section shall prevent any candidate from being nominated by more than one nomination paper: provided that not more than four nomination papers shall be presented by or on behalf of any candidate or accepted by  r the ~etuming 9mcer for election in the same constituency," ~4/1' fv-"' ~ tt;,{' tu ~ ')1< 'd' ~ ~ ~ t£ ~~ 1, i in section 36 of the 1951 act-amendmedt    (a) ld sub-section (2), ld claus~ (a), for the words "that oflectioa " the candidete", the words uthat on the date fixed for the scrutiny of nominations the candidate" shall be substituted; (b) in sub--section (5), in the proviso, for the words "an objection is made", the words "an objection is ·raised by the returning officer or is made by any other person" shall be substituted i amen~ment 10 in section 37 of the 1951-act, for sub-section (3) i the followofsectlod 17 ing sub-aection shall be substituted, namely:-"(3) the returning officer shall, on being satisfied as to the genuineness of a notice of withdrawal and the identity of the s person delivering it under sub-section (1), cause the notice to be affixed in some conspicuous place in his office" amendment 11 in section 39 of the 1951-act, in sub-section (1), in clause of section 3" (a), for the words "tenth day", the words "seventh day" shall be substituted 12 section 54 of the 1951-act shalj be omitted 10 omission of slc:tion ! • 13 for section 58 of the 1951-act, the following section shall be substituted, namely:-substitution or new sectodfor sectiod !8 "58 (1) if at any election,-presb pell in theca of ciestnlct, n, eta of ballot boxes (a) l'ly ballot box used at a polling station or at a place fixed for the poll is unlawfully taken out of the cus- is tody of the presiding officer or the returning officer, or is accidentally or intentionally destroyed or lost, or is damaged or tampered with, to such an extent, that the result of the poll at that polling station or place cannot be ascertained, or ~o (b) ~y such error or irregularity in procedure as is likely to vitiate the poll is committed at a polling station or at a place fixe"- for the poll, the returning officer shall forthwith report the matter to the election commission (z) thereupon, the f;lection commission shall, after taking all material circumstances into account, either (4) declare the poll at that polling station or place to be void, appoint a day, and fix the hours, for taking a fresh poll at that polling station or place and notify the day 10 30 appointed and the hours 10 fixed in such manner as it may deem fit, or (b) if satisfied that the result of a fresh poll at that polling station or place will not, in any way, affect the result of the election or that the error or irregularity in procedure is not material, issue such directions to the' returning officer as it may deem proper for the further conduct and completion of the election i (3) the provisions of this act and of any rules or orders made thereunder shall apply to every such fresh poll as they apply to the original poll" 10 14 section 63 of the 1951-act shall be omitted omission of section 63 15 in section 67a of the 1951-act, the word and figures "section amen~ent 54" shall be omitted ~~~ion 16 in section 73 of the 1951-act-amendment (a) for the words "the appropriate authority", the words of section 73 is "the election commission" shall be substituted, (b) the words "together with the names of the persons, if any, nominated by the president or governor to that house or assembly, as the case may be;" shall be omitted ~ in section 81 of the 1951-act, after sub-section (2) the follow- amendme~t , of section 20 iilg sub-section shall be inserted, namely:-81 "(3) every election petition shall be accompanied by as many copies thereof as there axe respondents mentioned in the petition and one more copy for the use of the election commission, and every such copy shall be attested by the petitioner 2s under his own signature to be a true copy of the petition" 18 in section 83 of the 1951-act, in sub-section (1), the follow- amendment ing proviso shall be inserted at the end, namely:-8~ section "provided that where the petitioner alleges any corrupt practice, the petition shall also be accompanied by an affidavit 30 in the prescribed form in support of the allegation of such corrupt practice and the particulars thereof" 19 in section 86 of the 1951-act, for sub-section (1), the follow- amendment ing sub-section shall be substituted, namely: _ ~~ section cc (1) if the petition is not dismissed under section 85, the 3s election commission shall send by post a copy thereof to ea~h respondent and shall refer the petition to an election tribunal for trial"  zoo in section 90 of the it51-act,-amendment of section 90· (a) in sub-section (3), for the words and figures "section 82 or section 117", the words and figures "or section 82" shall be substituted; (b) in suh-section (6), for the words "publication of the 5 copy of the petition in the official gazette", the words "reference of the petition to the tribunal for trial" shall besubstitufed amendment of section 106 21 in section 106 of the 1951-act, the words "and shall cause the order to be published" and clauses (a) and (b) shall be omitted 10  z2 in section 116a of the 1951-act,-amendment ofsoction um (a) in sub-section (4), after the word and ftgures "section 98", the words and figures "or section 99" shall be inserted: (b) in sub-section (6), for clauses (a) and (b), the following shall be substituted, namely:-is "forward copies thereof to the authorities to which copies of the order of the tribunal were forwarded under section 106" 23 in section 117 of the 1951-act, for the words "one thouaand rupees", the words "two thousand rupees" shall be substituted 20 amendment of section 117· 24 in section 120 of the 1951-act, in sub-section (1), the following proviso shall be added at the end, namely:-amendment of section 120 "provided that where a petition is dismissed under clause (a) of section 98, the returned candidate shall be entitled to the costs incurred by him in contesting the petition and 25 accordingly the tribunal shall make an order for costs in favour of the returned candidate"  25 in section 123 of the 1951-aet,-amendment of section u3· (a) in clause (3)-(i) the word "systematic" shall be 'omitted, 30 (ii) for the words "caste, race, community or religion", ' the words "religion, race, caste, community or language" shall 'be substituted; (b)after clause (3), the following clause shall be insertecl, namely:-"(sa) the promotion of, or attempt to promote, feelings of enmity or hatred between different classes of the citizens of india on grounds of religion, race, caste, community, or language, by a candidate or his agent or any other person with the consent of a candidate or his election agent for the furtherance of the prospects of that candidate's election" 10 28 in chapter iii of part vii of the 1951-act, before section 126, !:'i!~o~ the following section shall be inserted, namely:-125 chapter iii in of part vii "125 any person who in connection with an election un- promotinl der this act promotes or attempts to promote on grounds of enmitylbet-s  " ween c asse religion, race, caste, commumty or language, feelmgs of enmity in connec-or hatred between different classes of the citizens of india shall til on ~ith e ceuon be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine or with both" 27 in section 126 of the 1951-act, for sub-section (1), the fol- amendment hall b  ed i of section lowing' sub-sections e substltut ,name y: -6 iz  ao "(1) no person shall convene, hold or attend any public meeting within any polling area within twenty-four hours before the date of commencement of the poll or on the date or dates on which a poll is taken for an election in that polling area" 28 after section 127 of the 1951-act, the following section shall insertion of 25 be inserted namely: -new 8ecti«;>n , after section 30 "127a (1) no person shall print any circular, placard, pam- 127· '  ratrl cuan phlet or poster havmg a reference to an election in any cons- on the printtituency unless a declaration by the publisher of such circu-~' of cire:-lar, placard, pamphlet or poster as to his identity attested by ie:: ~:p -not less than two persons to whom the publisher is personally bevin, refelecreoce to c: -known is delivered to the printer by the publisher don (2) no person shall print or publish any such circular, placard, pamphlet or poster as is referred to in sub-section (1) which does not bear on its face the names and addres&es of the printer and the publisher thereof  is(s) th~ printer of every such circular, placard, pamphlet or poster as is referred to in sub-section (1) shall, immediately after the circular, placard, pamphlet or poster is printed, lend bhe printed copy thereof together with the declaration referred to in sub-section (1) to the returning officer of the constituency (4) any person who contravenes the provisions of subsection (1), sub-section (2) or sub-section (3) shall be punish- 5 able with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months or with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees or with both" amendment of section 13, 29 in section 139 of the 1951-act, in sub-section (1), in clause (b), for the word and figures "section 135", the words and figures 10 "section 125 or section 135" shall be substituted amendmert of section 141 30 in section 141 of the 1951-act, in clause (a), for the word and figures "section 135", the words and! figures "section 125 or section 135" shall be substituted amendment of section is8 31 in section 158 of the 1951-act, in sub-section (4), for the i, words "one-sixth" wherever they occur, the words "one-fifth" shall be substituted amendment of section 169· 32 in section 169 of the 1951-act, for sub-section (3), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely:- (3) every rule made under this act shall be laid as 1000 20 as may be after it is made before each house of parliament while it is in session for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session in which it is so laid or the session immediately following, both houses agree that 2, the rule should be either modified or annulled, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule" 30  chapter iv minor amendment in the two-member constituencies (abolition) ac:r 1961minor 33 in the two-member constituencies (abolition) act, 1961, the ~mendment following amendments relating to matters of minor detail shau be 35 in act 1 of d i 1961  ma e, name y:-(a) in section 7, in sub-section (1), for the words "the ~ s c!ommission shall", the following words shall be substit11ted, namely:-"the commission may make such minor adjustments in the extent and boundaries of the constituencies as appea to it to be necessary or expedient in view of changes, if any, made in administrative units and shall thereafter"; (b) in section 8, for clause (b), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:-10 15 "(b) where the boundaries or name of any district or any territorial division mentioned in a schedule to the said order or of any area within such district or division are or is altered, make such minor adjustments in the extent and boundaries of the constituencies as appear to it to be necessary or expedient in view of such alteration and thereafter make such amendments as appew to it to be necessary for bringing the schedule up-tchfate"  statement of objects and reasonsthe election commission in its report on the second general elections made a number of recommendations for' the amendment of the election law some of these recommendations have already been implemented by making suitable amendments to the representation of the people act, 1951, by the representation of the people (amendment) act, 1958 (58 of 1958) and also by the new conduct of elections rules, 1961 the question of reservation of seats in single-member constituencies has been settled by the enactment of the two-member constituencies (abolition) act, 1961 2 the election commission, after reconsidering the other recommendations contained in' the report and reviewing the entire election law in the light of recent experience, has made a number of proposals for the amendment of the representation of the people acts, 1950 and 1951 apart from these proposals of the election commission, certain other proposals for amendments to the election law, have been found necessary the bill seeks to give effect to au these proposals i 3 the important provisions of the bill are explained in the notes on clauses asoke k sen new delhi; 1 the 8th august, 1961  notes on clausesclauses 2 and 3-at present there is no provision for an appeal against orders of an electoral registration officer under section 22 amending, transposing or deleting entries in electoral rolls or refusing to do so this sometimes leads to dissatisfaction under section 23 also, the existing right of appeal is restricted to cases where an application for inclusion of a name is rejected by the electoral registration officer or by the chief electoral officer, and not where it is accepted despite contention it is proposed to provide for an appeal against every order made under section 22 or section 23 further, it is considered that a small fee may be prescribed for applications under section 22 as it is already prescribed for applications under section 23 clause 4-under sub-section (5) of section 27, a person has to be ordinarily resident on the qualifying date in a graduates' /teachers' constituency in order to be eligible for registration as an elector in that constituency if he shifts his place of ordinary residence during the year from one constituency to another, he will have to wait till the next year's revision for getting himself enrolled in the appropriate electoral roll as in the case of perliamentary and assembly electoral rolls, ordinary residence need not be tied up to the qualtfying date it is accordingly proposed to amend sub-section (5) of section 27 to enable a graduate or teacher to apply for enrolment as soon as he takes up ordinery residence in a constituency under sub-section (6) of section 27, the qualifying date for enrolment in the electoral roll for graduates' or teachers' constituendes is the 1st day of january of the year in which the roll is prepared or revised since the biennial elections in these constituencies have to be held in most of the states in the months of marchand april, the revision of the tolls has to be rushed through in order to allow more time, it is proposed that the qualifying date should be the 1st nay of november of the year in which the preparation or revision of the electoral roll is commenced clause g-the government of maharashtra has intimated that at present there are no district panchayats in the state of maharashtra; and the government of mysore has sooted that district boards and district local boards have been replaced by taluk development boards and that even larger village pancheyats need not be treated as eligible local bodies for elections to the sta~ legislative council from the locel authorities' constituencies by thi~ clause it is accordingly proposed to amend the list of local authorities for maharashtra and mysore clause 9-in order to reduce the overall period of elections, it is proposed to curtail the time available for making nominations as well as for scrutiny of nominations by reducing the period from ten days to seven days and from three days to two days, respeet1vely such reduction will incidentally tend to keep the election expenses low  claule lo-the number of nomination papers which a candidate may present is not now restricted by law and this omission appears to have been taken undue advantage of by some candidates a multiplicity of nomination papers tued by the same candidate unnecessarily increases the labour of the returning oftlcer and the other candidates during scrutiny the election commission accordingly recommended in chapter xii of its report on the second general elections that the maximuru number of nomination papers that may be presented by or on bebalf of the same candidate in the same constituency should be restricted to four only clause it-there have been doubts as to the exact date to which the qualification or disqualification of a candidate should be related under clause (a) of sub-section (2) of section 36 this is sometimes material, eg, in re~rd to the age of a candidate or in regard to the subsistence 'of a contract with the appropriate government, etc to remove these doubts, it is proposed that the qualification or disaualification of a candidate should be related to the date fixed for the scrutiny of nominations ; similllrly under the proviso to sub-section (5) of this section it is not clear whpther an obiection to a person's candidature can be made only by another candidate or also by any other person includin~ the returninll officer the prodosed amendment of the proviso to sub-section (5) seeks to makp it clear that such objection may be rrised by eny p,rson including the returning offtcer clause 12-at present there is no provision' in the act recluirln~ thp rptllrnin~ officer to be satisfied about the genuineness of any notice of withdfllwal of c~ndidature under section 37, as soon as a notice' of withdraws 1 i!l df'livered to the retufnin~ officer, it is affixed in somp consnicuour tllacp in his office the election commission hv recommendation no 7 in chapter xxx of its report su!!t'~t~d tholt the retllrnin~ ofticer should be satisfied as to the ~p'luinf'nf>ss of anv' notice of wi·thdrawal and the identity of the nprgon df'1iverin~ it beforp causinq the notice to be affixed in rf)me conspicuou!ol place in his oftice this recommendation of the electhm commh:ion ill sou~ht to be implemented by this c1aure clauses 15 and 17-after the abolition of two-member parliamentary and assembly canstltuencies sections 54 and 63 have become 9uperfluou!j clause i6-the election commission has recommended that the commission should be vested with a greater discretion in ordering a fresh poll under section 58 section 58 has accordingly been suitab1y amended to give effect to this recommendation clause 19-at present the final notification under sectiorl 73 which may be called the "due constitution" notification is issued by ~ president in the case of the lok sabha and by the governor in the case of the state legislative assembly sometimes, the issue of this notification is held up for the sake of obtaining names of nominated members "due constitution" of the lok sabha or the state legislative assembly on a general election ha9 very little to do with the nomination of members by the president or the governor further, the function of notifying the names of all elected members in a consolidated form after the general ei~ction may more appropriately be performed by the election commission which, under the constitution (article 324) is responsible for the conduct of the general elections hence the flmendments proposed in this clause /~la1l8e 21-at present gection' 81 of the act, which deals with the presentation of electirn petitions, does not require the petitioner to supply the nece~sary nun;tber of copies of the petition to the election commission; the result is that the requisite number of copies for being served on the respondents are prepared in the commission's office when the petition is a lengthy one with a number of schedules and annexures and the number of respondents is also large, the task of preparing the requisite number of copies takes an appreciable time of the staff of the commission by recommendation no 23 in chapter xxx of its report, the commis-14ion has accordingly suggested that a legal provision should be made! making it obligatory for every petitioner to file with the election petition suftlcient number of copies of the ~etition the commission has recently reiterated this recommendation~h specific proposals in "thi~behalf by this clause this recomm~ation is proposed to be implemented  / clause 22-undet section 83 of the act, every election petition is to be verified in the manner laid down itt' the code of civil procedure, 1908, for the verification of pleadings in spite of such verification, it has been found in practice that petitioners sometimes make allegation of corrupt practice in a careless manner without realising the seriousness of the allegation it is accordingly proposed that where a petitioner alleges any corrupt practice in an election petition, the petition shall be accompanied by an affidavit in the prescribed form in support of the allegation of such corrupt practice and the particulars thereof  clause 23-sub-section (1) of section 86 as it stands at present requires the publication of each election petition in the gazette of india or the state official gazette, as the case may be this, however, in the opinion of the election commission, does not serve any useful purpose, as oftl"cial gazettes are seldom read by the public this compulsory publication in the official gazette besides being expensive to government also involves some delay in referring the petition to a tribunal for trial it is accordingly proposed to amend sub-section (1) of section 86 to give effect to this proposal  incidentally, this will also have the effect of giving effect to recommendation no 17 in chapter xxx of the report of the commission / clause 24-the election commission has urged that the question whether a petitioner has deposited the requisite amount under section 117 as security for costs should be left entirely to the commission to decide the commission invariably satisfies itself whether this deposit has been made· or not there is no reason why the question should be allowed to be agitated once again before the tribunals or the courts as a matter of fact, sub-section (3) of section 90 has been responsible for a numher of writ petitions and appeals right up to the supreme court and enormous· delay in the disposal of some election petitions it is accordingly proposed to delete the re~erence to section 117 occurring in sub-section (3) of section 90 - clause 25-under section 106, every judgment of the tribunal is to be published in the official gazette this is not at all necessary from the practical point of view as very few of the general public have access to the official gazette or care to read it nobody really benefits from such publication which usually takes place two or three months after the pronouncement of the judgment the commission has accordingly recommended that the requirement as to publication in the official gazette may be safely done away with - clause 26-while sub-section (1) qf section 1i6a provides for appeals from orders made under section 99, the power to stay operation of the order appealed from is limited under sub-section (4) to orders made under clause (b) of section 98 this sometimes gives rise to difficulties the election commission has accordingly l't"cojnmended that the scope of sub-section (4) of section 116a should be extended to orders under section 99 clause 27-the sum of one thousand rupees which a petitioner is required to deposit along with an election petition does not appear to be sufficient hence it is proposed to increase this amount to two thousand rupees clause 2s-at present, under section 120, the rule is that costs incurred in connection with an election petition are in every case in the discretion of the tribunal but this discretion does not appear always to have been judicially exercised it has been found that even in cases where an election petition has been dismissed at the conclusion of the trial, tribunals have not awarded costs to the returned candidate with· out any reasonable justification it is, therefore, proposed to make an exception to the general rule by providing in section 120 that in the case of dismissal of an election petition, the returned candidate shall be entitled to the costs incurred by him in contesting the petition clauses 29, 30, 33 and 34-for curbing communal and separatist tendencies in the country it is propijsed to widen the scope of the corrupt practice mentioned in clause (3) of section 123 of the 1951-acf (as in sub-clause (b) of clause 29), and to provide for a new corrupt practice (as in sub-clause (c) of clause 29) and a new electoral offence (as in clause 30) for the promotion of feelings of hatred and enmity on grounds of religion, race, caste, community or language it is also proposed that conviction for this new offence will entail disqualification for membership of parliament and of state legislatures and also for voting at any election this is proposed to be done by suitable amendments in section 139 and section 141 of the 1951-act as in clauses 33 and ~4 respectively clause 3l-under section 126 public meetings are prohibited within any polling area only on the polling day the election commission is, however, of the opinion that for the smooth and orderly conduct of elections no meetings should be allowed to be held also within twentyfour hours before the qate of the poll clause 32-it has been found that during election time, many circulars, placards, pamphlets, etc of an objectionable natw::e are issued - without the names of the printer and the publisher shown thereon, or with faked names these objectionable practices should be stopped it is, t~erefore, proposed that no printer shall print any circular, placard, pamphlet, etc unless a declaration by the publisher attested by - at least two witnesses is delivered to the printer and that no teasoti shall print or publish any circular, placard, pamphlet, etc without the names and addresses of the printer and the publisher shown thereon provision is also proposed to be made requiring the printer to send one printed copy of every circular, placard, pamphlet, etc to the returning officer together with the declaration of the publisher a contravention of any of these provisions will be an offence punishable with imprisonmfmt for a term which may extend to six months or with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees or with both clause 35-undue multiplicity of candidates at an election is undesirable and confusing effective checks should be devised to curb light-hearted participation in electoral contests the election commission by recommendation no 11 (a) in chapter xxx of its report accordingly suggested an amendment of section 158 so as to require a candidate to poll one-fifth of the valid votes instead of one-sixth before he is considereg to be entitled to a refund of the deposit made by him section 158 is accordingly proposed to be amended to give effect to this recommendation clause 37-1n the course of bifurcation of two-member constituencies, the election commission has found that changes in administrative units have taken place in many constituencies necessitating minor adjustments in the extent and boundaries of the constituencies but the commission has no power at present to make such adjustments a few minor amendments in sections 7 and 8 of the two-member constituencies (abolition) act, 1961 have accordingly been proposed  extracts from the representation of the people act, 1950 - • - • •23 - - - - (4) where an application made under this section is rejected an ~=~r!f appeal shall lie within such time and in such manner as may be rolls prescribed-(a) to the chief electoral officer, where the application is rejected by the electoral registration officer; and (b) to the election commission where the application is rejected by the chief electoral officer (5) every application and appeal under this section shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee which shall in no case be refunded - - 27 - - - - - - preparation (5) subject to the foregoing provisions of this section-coonel (a) every person who on the qualifying date was ordinarily ~~~i~:~u­resident in a graduates' constituency and has, for at least three years before that date, been either a graduate of a university in the territory of india or in possession of any of the qualifications specified under clause (a) of sub-section (3) by the state government concerned, shall be entitled to be registered in the electoral roll for that constituency; and (b) every person who on the qualifying date was ordinarily resident in a teachers' constituency, and has, within the six years immediately before that date for a total period of at least three years, been engaged in teaching in any of the educational institutions specified under clause (b) of sub-section (3) by the state government concerned shall be entitled to be registered in the electoral roll for that constituency (6) for the purposes of sub-sections (4) and (5) the qualifying date shall be the 1st day of january of the year in which the electoral roll is prepared or revised - - - -  part vpower to mate meso 28 - - general - iii - (3) all rules made under this act shall, as soon as may be after they are made, be laid for not less than thirty days before both houses of parliament and shall be subject to such modifications as parliament may make during the session in which they are so laid or the session immediately following - - -  the fourth schedule - •- -  bombay1 mwlicipalities 2 district local boards s cantonment boards 4 district boards 5 district panchayats 6 town committees - - - 7 janapada sabhas (rural circle)  - - - - - mysore - - - - 2 district boards and district local boards - - - - 5 village panchayats with a population of not less than five thousand - - - - - - - - - chapter iii-disqualifications - - - - -  part v conduct of elections chapter i-nomination of candidates30 as soon as the notification calling upon a constituency to appointmen elect a member or members is issued, the election commission shall, of ~te !or    ,  nommatlon by notification m the officlal gazette, appomtetc' (a) the last date for making nominations, which shall be the tenth day after the date of publication of the first-mentioned notification or, if that day is a public holiday, the next succeeding day which is not a public holiday; (b) the date for the scrutiny of nominations, which shall be the third day after the last date for making nominations or, if that day is a public holiday, the next succeeding day which is not a public holiday; , - - - - 33 - presentation - - - of nomination paper (6) nothing in this section shall prevent any candidate from be- ~~~:1:r:­ing nominated by more than one nomination paper for election in va1!d nom!-the same constituency nation  - - 36 - - - - - - scrudnj ofnomi· (2) the returning officer shall then examine the nomination nations papers and shall decide all objections which may be made to any "nomination and may, either on such objection or on his own motion, after such summary inquiry, if any, as he thinks necessary, reject any nomination on any of the following grounds:-(a) that the candidate either is 1')ot qualiftedor is disqualified for being chosen to fill the seat under any of the following provisions that may be applicable, namely:-articles 84, 102, 173 and 191, and part ii of this act, or (b) that there has been a failure to comply with any of the provisions of section 33 or section 34; or (e) that the signature of the candidate or the proposer on the nomination paper is not genuine  - - - - (5) the returning officer shall hold the scrutiny on the date appointed in this behalf under clause (b) of section 30 and shall not allow any adjournment of the proceedings except when such proceedings are interrupted or obstructed by riot or open violence or by causes beyond his control: provided that in case an objection is made the candidate concerned may be allowed time to rebut it not later than the next day but one following the date fixed for scrutiny, and the returning officer shall record his decision on the date to which the proceedings have been adjourned - '" '" - - 37 - '" '" - '" wlthdra "'al ofcandidawe (3) the returning officer shall, on recelvmg a notice of withdrawal under sub-section (1), as soon as may be thereafter, cause a notice of the withdrawal to be affixed in some conspicuous place in his office - - - - nomination ofcandidates at other elections 39· (1) ap soon as the notification calling upon the elected members or the members of the legislative assembly of a state or the members of the electoral college of a union territory to elect a m~m ber or members is issued the election commission shall, by notification in the official gazette, appoint-(a) the last date for making nominations, which shall be the tenth day after the date of publication of the 1b-st-mentioned notification or, if that day is a public holiday, the next succeeding day which is not a public holiday; - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 54 (1) the provisions of this section shall apply in relation to ~j;::1::0-any election in a constituency where the seats to be filled include elcctions in one or more seats reserved for the scheduled castes or for the sche- ~:sst~r;:::eduled tribes (hereinafter referred to as "reserved seats") seats are reserved for scheduled (2) if the number of contesting candidates qualified to be chosen castes or to fill the reserved seats is equal to the number of such, seats, all t~b~~icd those candidates shall be forthwith declared to be elected to fill the reserved seats, and the procedure laid down in section 53 shall be followed for filling the remaining seat or seats (3) if the number of contesting candidates qualified to be chosen to fill the reserved seats exceeds the number of such seats, but the total number of contesting candidates is equal to the total number of seats to be fillpd, the returning officer shall first select by lot, to be drawn by him in such manner as he may determine, the candidates to be declared elected to the reserved seats out of the' candidates qualified to be chosen to fill those se'ats and then declare the candidates so selected to be duly elected to fill the reserved seats and thereafter declare the remaining candidates to be duly elected to fill the remaining seats (4) if the number of contesting candidates qualified to be chosen to fill the reserved seats exceeds the number of such seats, and the total number of contesting candidates also exceeds the total number of seats to be filled, a poll shall be taken; and after the poll has been taken, the returning officer shall first declare those who, being qualified to be chosen to fill the reserved seats, have secured the largest number of votes, to be duly electedi to fill the reserved seats, and then declare such of the remaining candidates as have secured the largest number of votes to be duly elected to fill the remaining seats illustration-at an election in a constituency to fill four seats of which two are reserved there are six contesting candidates a, b, c, d, e and f, and they secure votes in descending order, a securing the largest number b, c and d are qualified to be chosen to fill the reserved seats, while a, e and f are not so qualified the returning officer will first declare band c duly elected to fill the two reserved seats, and then declare a and d (not a and e) to fill the remaining two seats (5) if the number of contesting candidates qualified to be chosen to fill the reserved seats is less than the number of such seats,-(a) all those candidates shall be forthwith declared to be duly elected to fill reserved seats; (b) the procedure laid down in section 53 shalr be followed for filling the seats other than the reserved seats; and (c) the election commission shall, by notification in the official gazette, call upon the constituency to elect a person or persons to fill the remaining reserved seat or seats: provided that where a constituency having been already so called upon has failed to elect a person or the requisite number of persons to fill the reserved seat or seats, the election commission shall not be bound to call again upon the constituency to elect a person or persons to fill the vacancy or vacancies until it is satisfied that if called upon again, there will be no such failure on the part of the constituency or such members  - - - - - fresh poll 58 (1) if at any elec~ion, any ballot box used at a polling station jd·n the ~se of or at a place fixed for the poll is unlawfully taken out of the custody estructton,      etc •• of ballot of the presldmg officer or the returmng officer, or is any way tampeboxes red with, or is accidentally or intentionally destroyed, lost or damaged, and the returning officer is satisfied that in consequence thereof the result of the poll at that polling station or place cannot be ascertained, he shall-(a) declare the polling at that polling station or place to be void; (b) report the matter forthwith to the election commission and to the appropriate authority; (c) with the previous approval of the election commission, appoint a day, and ftx the hours for taking a fresh poll at the polling station or place; and' (d) notify the day so appointed and the hours so fixed by him in such manner as the election commission may direct (2) the provisions of this act and of any rules or orders made thereunder shall apply to every such fresh poll as they apply to the original poll ' 63 (1) in plural member constituencies other than council cons- method of tituencies every elector shall have as many votes as there are mem- votins bers to be elected, but no elector shall give more than one vote to anyone candidate (2) if an elector gives more than one vote to anyone candidate in contravention of the provisions of sub-section (1), then, at the time of counting of votes not more than one of the votes given by him to such candidate shall be taken into account and all the other votes given by him to such candidate shall be rejected as void 67a for the purposes of this act, the date on which a candidate date of is declared by the returning officer under the provisions of section election of 53, section 54 or section 66, to be elected to a house of parliament candidate or of the legislature of a state shall be the date of election of that candidate j 73 where a general election is held for the purpose of constitu-, ting a new house of the people or g new state legislative assembly, ~;~:!~n of there shall be notified by the appropriate authority in the oftlciall,eneral elcc-  tlons to the gazette, as soon as may be after the date orlgmally fixed for the houle of completion of the election under clause (e) of section 30, the names th~ thpgople of the members elected for the various constituencies by that dete ~aisktiv~atc together with the names of persons, if any, nominated by the presi- a,d,emfblies an 0 names dent or governor to that house or assembly, as the case may be; of persons and upon the issue of such notification that house or assembly shall nhominated  t creta be deemed to be duly constituted: provided that the issue of such notification shall not be deemed-(a) to preclude the completion of the election in any parliamentary or any assembly constituency or constituencies for which time has been extended under the provisions of section 153i or - (b) to affect the duration of the house of the people or the state legislative assembly, if any, functionine immediately before the issue of the said notification  - - - - -  chapter iii-trial of election petitionsappointment of bleaion tribunal 86 (1) if the petition is not dismissed under section 85, the election commission shall cause a copy thereof to be published in the om cial gazette and a copy to be served by post on each respondent, and shall then refer the petition to an election tribunal for trial (2) for the purpose of coil6tituting such tribunals, the election commission shall obtain from the high court of each state (other than jammu and kashmir) a list of persons who are district judges in the state and are in the opinion of the high court fit to be appointed as members of electi m tribunals and shall maintain the list by mak· ing such alterations therein as the high court may, from time to time, direct explanation-in this sub-section, the expression "district judge" includes judge of a city civil court, additional district judge, joint district judge and cldef judge of a small cause court (3) every tribunal shall consist of a single member selected by the election commission from any of the lists maintained by it under sub-section (2): provided that where the petition is in respect of an election to the legislative assembly or legislative council of a state, no person who is a district judge in another state shall be selected for appointment as a member of the tribunal except with the consent of the government of that other state: provided further that if the election commission considers it expedient so to do, it may appoint a person who has been a judge of a high court as the member of a tribunal (4) if for any reason a vacancy occurs in the office of member of a tribunal, the election commission shall, as soon as practicable, appoint a person to fill the vacancy in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this section; and upon his joining the tribunal, the trial of the petition shall be continued as if he had been on the tribunal from the beginning: provided that the tribunal may, if it thinks fit, recall and re-examine any of the witnesses already examined   '" '" 90 '" '"    '"  procedure b;lore [he tribunal (3) the tribunal shall dismiss an election petition which does not comply with the provisions of section 81, section 82 or section 117 notwithstanding that it has not been dismissed by the election commission under section 85 '"  '" '" (6) every election petition shall be tried as expeditiously as possible and endeavour shall be made to conclude the trial within six months from the date of publication of the copy of the petition in the official gazette under sub-section (1) of section 86       '" 106 as soon as may be after the receipt of any order made by the tnnsmis-tribunal under section 98 or section 99, the election commission shall ~ionhe0f order to t approforward copies of the order to the appropriate authority and, in the lrbte authocase where such order relates to an election to a house of parliament ~ity ebtc,: and  its pu acaor to an election to the house or a house of the legislature of a don state, also to the speaker or chairman, as the case may be, of the house concerned, and shan cause the order to be published-(a) where the order relates to an election to a house of parliament, in the gazette of india as well as in the official gazette of the state concerned; and (b) where the order relates to an election to the house or a house of the legislature of the state, in the oftlcial gazette of the state - -  - -  chapter iv a-appealsappeals qlinst orders of elecrion tribunals 1l6a (1) an appeal shall lie from every order made by a tribunal under section 98 or section 99 to the high court of the state in which the tribunal is situated       (4) where an appeal has been preferred against an order made under clause (b) of section 98 the high court may, on sufficient cause being shown, stay operationof the order appealed from and in such a case the order shall be deemed never to have taken effect untter subsection (1) of section 107 and a copy of the stay order shall immediately be sent by the high court to the "election commission and the speaker or chairman, as the case may be, of the house of parliament or of the state legislature concerned      - (6) -  oil oil  (a) forward copies thereof to the authorities to which copiee of the order of the tribunal were forwarded under section 106, and (b) cause the decision to be published in the gazette or gazettes in which that order was published under the said section p ia de elo be  oil  -   chapter v-costs and security 101' comdeposit of security - 117 the petitioner shall enclose with the petition a government treuury receipt showing that a deposit of one thousand rqpees has been made by him either in a government treasury or in the reserve ·bank of india in favour of the election commission u security for the costs of the petition -     ; part vn i corrupt plw:nces and elrcrollal oitenci's chapter i-coftupt practica,corrupt practice •• us the following shall be deemed to be corrupt practices for the purposes of this act: -i oil -  -  (3) the systemotic appeal by a candidate or his agent or by any other person with the consent of a candidate or his election agent, to vote or refrain from voting on grounds of caste, race, community or religion or the use of,' or appeal to, religious symbols or the use of, or appeal to, national symbols, such as the national flag or the national emblem, for the furtherance of the prospects of that candidate's election l          -                             -                                                 -                                                                     -                                                                                        -  chapter lii-electoral offences126 (1) no person shall convene, hold or attend any public prohibition meeting within any polling area on the date or dates, on which a ~!e~~~~ on poll is taken for an election in that polling area the election day - - - - -  part viii disqljalincatlons chapter i-disqualifications for membership139 (1) the following offences shall entail disqualification for offences membership of parliament and of the legislature of every state, entailins ~il-1 quamicatlon namey:-- - - - - (b) offences punishable under section 135 or clause (0) of sub-section (2) of section 136 of this act - - - - - chapter li-disquglificationa lor voting - - - - - 141 - • - - - disqualifiea-( )   ted f ff  h bl 'th'  tion arisil's a 1s convlc a an 0 ence pums a e wi imprlson- out of conment under section 171e or section 171f of the indian penal viction and code, or of an offence punishable under section 135 or clause ~:f~ (a) of sub-section (2) of section 136 of this act, or - - - 151 - - - - - - - return or forfeiture or (4) subject to the provisions of sub-section (3), the deposit shall ::~~te's be forfeited if at an election where a poll has been taken, the candi-- date is not elected and the number of valid votes polled by him does not exceed one-sixth of the total number of valid votes polled by all the candidates or in the case of election of more than one member at the election, one-eixth of the total number of valid votes so polled divided by the number of members to be elected: provided that where at an election held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote, a candidate is not elected, the deposit made by him shall be forfeited if he does not get more than one-sixth of the number of votes prescribed in this behalf as sufficient to secure the return of a candidate     -  - 189 - -  part xi ginmw •power to make rules (3) all rules made under this att shall, as soon as may be after they are made, be laid for not less than thirty days before both houses of parliament and shall be subject to such modifications as parliament may make during the session in which they are so laid or the session immediately following   - -   extracts from the two-member constituencies (abolmon) act, 1961 (1 of 1961)     - - 7 (1) after all the notifications have been published under clause ~~v~~::nf! (c) of section 4 and the order referred to in sub-section (5) of section tationorcier 19 cf the bombay r~rganisation act, 1960, has been made, the commilsion shall- -  - 8 - - - - - - - - - - power to maintain (b) h h b d· f dis' delimitatioa w ere t e oun aries or name 0 any trict or any order up-to territorial division mentioned in a schedule to the said order date are or is altered, make such amendments as appear to it to be necessary or expedient for bringing the schedule up-to-date   a blll further to amend the representation of the people act, 1950, and the representation of the people act, 1951, and to make certajn minor amendments in the two-aiember constituencies (abolition) act, 1961 (shri asoke k sen, minister of lafo) - 