JUDGMENT

K. RAMASWAMY, J.:- Special leave granted.

2. The appellant was declared on November 27, 1989 to have been elected as a member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from 23 Manvi Assembly Constituency from Raichur Dist. The respondent is the nearest unsuccessful candidate who called it in question in Election Petition No. 11 of 1990 in the High Court of Karnataka at Bangalore. He sought to declare that the election of the appellant as void under S. 100(1)(a) (b) and (d) of the Representation of the People Act 43 of 1951 for short the Act. One of the grounds alleged is corrupt practices stated in paragraphs IV(6) to (12) that the appellant had indulged in booth capturing and rigging of booths in Polling Booths Nos. 5, 6, 7, 68, 73, 74, 88, 91 to 96, 100, 102 and 103, most of which are said to be situated in Bagalwad Mandal Panchayat to which the appellant was the erstwhile Pradhan. According to the pleadings, the Modus operandi adopted was that the appellant and his supporters threatened the officials with full connivance of the police officials and that of the election agents of the petitioners, captured the booth...... Respondent No. 1 (appellant) and his supporters have pre