Judgment

HIDAYATULLAH, C.J.I. :- This is an appeal by the unsuccessful election petitioner against the judgment of the High Court of Rajasthan dated October 10, 1967. The election petition was filed to challenge the election of the first respondent at the Pali Parliamentary Constituency in the Fourth General Elections. At that election seven nomination papers were filed. Two of the candidates withdrew. Amongst them was one R. D. Periwal. There were thus only five contesting candidates. Of these, the first respondent obtained 1,47,509 votes. His closest rival respondent No. 2 (now deceased) obtained 1,21,438 votes. The remaining candidates got a little over thirty thousand votes between them.

2. The election petitioner (appellant here) is an elector of Pali. In his petition he joined the returned candidate and the other four contesting candidates. Many grounds were urged in the petition. The first ground was that the returned candidate or his election agent prompted hatred against the Congress, appealed to religion and sent persons dressed as Sadhus preaching that if Congress was returned to power there would be go-hatya and took pledges or oaths from the voters. The second was that t