Judgment

Srinivasan, J.-The appellant is aggrieved by the dismissal of his election petition No. 3/95 by the Bench at Aurangabad of the High Court of Bombay on preliminary issues without trial.

2. The first respondent was declared elected at the election to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly held on 9.2.95 for 96 Pachora Con­stituency. The appellant filed the petition for declaring the elec­tion to be void and illegal and for declaring him as duly elected. In view of the limited scope of this appeal, it is unnecessary to refer to the allegations made in the said petition. Suffice it to mention that the petition contained allegations of certain corrupt practices as against the first respondent. An affidavit was filed along with the petition as required by the proviso to Section 83(1)(c) of the Repre­sentation of the People Act (for short, the Act). The affidavit was attested and the endorsement of attestation contained the particulars as required by law.

3. When the copies of the petition, documents and the affidavit were served on the respondents, the copy of the affidavit did not bear the endorsement of attestation found on the original or the seal or stamp of the attesting officer