Judgment

S. R. DAS J. : The question here is whether an election to a State Legislative Assembly is invalidated when the member s nomination was either proposed or seconded, or both, by a Government servant or servants.

2. The appellant was a Minister in the State of Orissa. He was nominated as a candidate for the Orissa Legislature Assembly and was later declared to have been elected. One of his rivals was the 1st respondent who filed an election petition challenging the election on a number of grounds, among them, the following.

3. The appellant had filed about two dozen nomination papers. In five of them the proposer was a Government servant and in four the seconder. The 1st respondent stated that this was the first step in a scheme to get the assistance of Government officers in furtherance of the appellant s election and to "use and utilise" them "for the purposes of the election." There were also other allegations which we need not consider here.

4. The appellant made counter allegations against the 1st respondent, whom he had defeated, but they do not concern us either.

5. The Election Tribunal framed twelve issues and examined 101 witnesses, but when it came to make its order it