Judgment

MITTER, J.:- On April 6, 1967 the appellant before us, filed an Election petition in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh challenging the election of the first respondent, B. N. Reddi to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly from the Kollapur Constituency inter alia on the ground of corrupt practices committed by him, his election agent, polling agents and other workers mentioned in the schedule to the petition with his consent and praying for a declaration that the second respondent, K. Ranga Das was duly elected from the said constituency. The third respondent was another candidate who had contested the election but had fared very badly. The first respondent secured 25,321 votes at the election overtopping the votes polled by the second respondent by approximately 1,600. The petitioners stated in paragraph 5 of the petition that one V. K. Reddi who had filed his nomination payer had been made to withdraw his candidature by the first respondent on payment of an illegal gratification of a sum of Rs. 10,000. This allegation was repeated in paragraph 10. The first respondent was also charged with other corrupt practices in diverse other paragraphs of the petition.

2. The first