Judgment-

KRISHNA IYER

( 1 ) THE dual prayers in the election petition, by the worsted appellant, related to (a) invalidation of the 1st respondents election and (b) the further submission that instead, the petitioner / appellant be declared successful from the 12-Sangrur Parliamentary constituency. The petition was dismissed by the High Court and the appellant has repeated both his reliefs in this civil appeal. However, by the time the appeal came up for hearing, the 1st respondent, the returned candidate, passed away, but Shri Agarwala, Advocate, has sought to appear for an elector from the constituency, on the score that the whole constituency is, in a sense, before the Court and anyone from the constituency is entitled to oppose the election petition and also the election appeal. There is no doubt that the democratic order sustains itself on the rectitude at the polls and disputes affecting elections are not like private litigation but of public concern. Viewed thus, the question raised is not free from doubt and indeed it may be appropriate for Parliament to consider whether a provision analogous to Section 116 of the representation of the People Act, 1951 (hereinafter celled th