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SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
(From the High Court of Karnataka at Bengaluru)
Sanjay Kishan Kaul, M.M. Sundresh, JJ
A. Manju - Appellant
Versus
Prajwal Revanna @ Prajwal R and Ors. - Respondents
Civil Appeal No. 1774 of 2020
Decided On : 13-12-2021
Civil Procedure Code, 1908 – Section 151 – Order VII Rule 11 – Representation of People Act, 1951 – Section 81, 123, 100(1)(d)(ii), 86, 83, 82, 117, 33A, 81(3), 83 – Conduct of Election Rules, 1962 – Section 94A – Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 – Rule 94A – Presentation of petitions – Contents of petition – Trial of election petitions – Right to information – Grounds for declaring election to be void – Elaborates on rejection of plaints in certain circumstances – Appellant was a candidate from 16 Hassan (General) Parliamentary Constituency in 2019 elections and was stated to have been sponsored by Party – Respondent No.1 was sponsored by Secular Party and was also a candidate from Constituency –Held, Court have to appreciate that petition is at a threshold stage – It is not as if appellant has failed to cure defect even on being pointed out so – This is not a case where filing of an affidavit now in Form 25 would grant an opportunity for embellishment as is sought to be urged on behalf of respondent No.1 – Appellant states case clearly and in no uncertain terms with supporting material in election petition – Whether violation is made out by respondent no.1 or not would be a matter of trial but certainly not a matter to be shut out at threshold – Result of aforesaid is that impugned order of learned single Judge is set aside and the application filed by respondent no.1 under Order 7 Rule 11, S. 151 of the said Code and S. 86(1) of RP Act would stand dismissed with liberty to appellant to file an appropriate affidavit in Form 25 within fifteen (15) days from today – Further proceedings in election petition are required to be taken up urgently as almost two and a half years have gone on preliminary skirmishes rather than meat of matter, which court are sure learned single Judge of High Court would so do – Appeal allowed.
JUDGMENT :
Sanjay Kishan Kaul, J.
Facts :
1. The moot point for consideration in the present appeal is whether an election petition can be thrown out at the threshold on a plea of the respondent/elected candidate that the petition is not supported by an affidavit in Form 25, as prescribed under Rule 94A of Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, even though the petition is based on allegations of corrupt practices.
2. The appellant was a candidate from 16 Hassan (General) Parliamentary Constituency (for short ‘Constituency’) in the 2019 elections and was stated to have been sponsored by the Bharatiya Janata Party. Respondent No.1 was sponsored by Janatha Dal Secular Party and was also a candidate from the Constituency. Respondent Nos. 2 to 6 were sponsored by local/regional parties but, as transpired from the elections, were not serious contestants in real terms. The Election Commission of India issued a notification on 12.01.2019 appointing a Returning Officer to the Constituency where elections were held on 18.04.2019. The appellant secured 5,35,282 votes while respondent no.1 secured 6,76,606 votes. The other respondents secured only marginal votes.
3. The appellant preferred an election petition under Section 81 of the Representation of People Act, 1951 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘RP Act’) on 26.06.2019 challenging the election of respondent no.1. The appellant sought a declaration that respondent no.1’s election was liable to be declared void on account of respondent no.1 having filed a false affidavit and consequently the appellant should be declared as duly elected on account of his having secured the second highest votes. This petition was resisted by respondent no.1 at the threshold who filed an application under Order VII Rule 11 read with Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘said Code’) and Section 86(1) of the RP Act seeking dismissal of the election petition on account of non-compliance of Section 81(3) and the proviso to Section 83(1) of the RP Act.
4. In order to appreciate the rival submissions of the learned counsel for the parties, it would be appropriate to extract the relevant Sections of the RP Act. Chapter II under Part VI of the RP Act deals with the Presentation of Election Petitions to the High Court. The presentation of petitions has to be as per Section 81 of the RP Act. The contents of an election petition are as set out in Section 83. The relevant provisions read as under:
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx
[(3) Every election petition shall be accompanied by as many copies thereof as there are respondents mentioned in the petition, and every such copy shall be attested by the petitioner under his own signature to be a true copy of the petition.]”
.... .... .... .... ....
“[83. Contents of petition.—(1) An election petition—
(a) shall contain a concise statement of the material facts on which the petitioner relies;
(b) shall set forth full particulars of any corrupt practice that the petitioner alleges, including as full a statement as possible of the names of the parties alleged to have committed such corrupt practice and the date and place of the commission of each such practice; and
(c) shall be signed by the petitioner and verified in the manner laid down in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908) for the verification of pleadings:
[Provided that where the petitioner alleges any corrupt practice, the petition shall also be accompanied by an affidavit in the prescribed form in support of the allegation of such corrupt practice and the particulars thereof.]
(2) Any schedule or annexure to the petition shall also be signed by the petitioner and verified in the same manner as the petition.]”
Chapter III under Part VI of the RP Act deals with trial of election petitions. The relevant portion of Section 86 is extracted as under:
“[86. Trial of election petitions.—(1) The High Court shall dismiss an election petition which does not comply with the provi
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