JUDGMENT

SHINGHAL, J.:— This appeal by election petitioner Harjit Singh Mann is directed against the judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court dated February 7, 1978, dismissing the petition by which he had challenged the election of Umrao Singh, respondent No. 1, hereinafter referred to as the respondent, from the Nakodar constituency of the Punjab Legislative Assembly. The result of the election was declared on June 14, 1977, according to which the respondent was declared elected as he secured the highest votes at the poll.

2. Appellant Harjit Singh Mann could not contest the election as his nomination papers were rejected by the Returning Officer on May 19, 1977, which was the date fixed for the scrutiny of the nominations. That was taken as one of the grounds for filling the election petition, the other ground being the commission of some corrupt practices by the respondent. The respondent traversed the allegations. The trial court examined some of the preliminary objections and framed eight issues. The first two issues were decided in favour of the appellant. As regards issue No. 3, the trial court held that a part of the allegation of corrupt practice which was sought to be incorporated in the amended petition, could not be taken into consideration as the amendment was applied for after the expiry of the period of limitation; and it was therefore ordered to be deleted. The correctness of the above findings has not been challenged before us. In fact we are required to consider the trial courts findings only on issues Nos. 4, 5 and 6, which have all gone against the appellant. Issues Nos. 7 and 8 have not been pressed for our consideration. We shall therefore concern ourselves with three issues (Nos. 4, 5 and 6) and deal with them one by one.

3. Issue No. 4 was to the following effect ;-

"Whether Jit Ram proposer of the petitioner reached the office of the Returning Officer at 2.50 p.m. and filed the nomination papers of the petitioner before 3.00 p. m. on 18-5-1977 and whether the endorsement made on the nomination papers that the nomination papers were received at 3.10 p.m. was wrongly made and thereby illegally rejected on 19-5-1977? If so, to what effect."

4. The appellants allegation in this respect was that although Jit Ram (P. W. 7), who had proposed his candidature, reached the office of the Returning Officer after depositing the necessary security in the bank at 2.50 p. m. on May 18, 1977, and the Returning Officer placed the nomination papers on his table, he wrongly asked Jit Ram to take back the nomination papers saying that the time for filing them had expired. It was further alleged that the Returning Officer got annoyed when Jit Ram protested that he had filed the nomination papers in time, and that he wrongly noted down the time of presentation of the nomination papers as 15.10 hours. As has been stated, the trial court has disbelieved the averment of the petitioner in this respect, and found the issue against him.

5. We have gone through the statement of Jit Ram P. W. 7 who, according to the appellants case, presented the nomination papers to the Returning Officer. The witness has however admitted in cross-examination that when he was trying to deliver the nomination papers, the Returning Officer "said that he objected to the delivery of the nomination papers as the time was over". The witness no doubt claimed that he reached the office of the Returning Officer, after depositing the security at about 2.45 p.m. and that when the Returning Officer told him that the time for the filing of the nomination papers had expired, some 4 other "persons" standing in the office of the Returning Officer said that "still two minutes remained for it becoming 3 Oclock and some said that one minute still remained". The trial court disbelieved that version of Jit Ram. He really could not even read the time in the clock of the trial court, for when he deposed that it was 3.19 p.m., the time according to that clock was 3.6 p.m