Judgment

BEG J.:- This appeal under Section 116A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (hereinafter referred to as the Act ) is directed against the judgment and order of the High Court of Bombay setting aside the election of the appellant to the Maharashtra State Assembly from Kumbharwada constituency held on 9-8-1972 on a voter s election petition.

2. The voter alleged that the appellant, in the course of his election, had committed corrupt practices defined in Sec. 123, sub-ss. (2) and (3) and (3A) of the Act. The gist of the charges against the appellant Ziyauddin Burhanuddin Bukhari (hereinafter referred to as Bukhari ), a Muslim League candidate, was: that, he had made speeches in the course of his election campaign calculated to induce a belief in the voters that they will be objects of divine displeasure or spiritual censure if they voted for Shaukat Currimbhoy Chagla (hereinafter referred to as Chagla ), a Congress party candidate, who was impleaded as the 2nd respondent that, in the above mentioned speeches, the appellant had called upon the electors to vote for him and not for Chagla on the ground that he alone stood for all that was Muslim whereas. Chagla repre