( 1 ) THE petitioner and respondents Nos. 2 to 6 herein were candidates for election to the No. 39, Boorugupudi Assembly Constituency in the State of Andhra Pradesh. The poll was held on 11-9-1999. Of the seven contestants in the fray, the petitioner representing the Congress Party and the 1st respondent representing the Telugu Desam Party were the principal contestants.

( 2 ) THE poll was conducted by the conventional process i. e. , by ballots. The counting took place on 6-10-1999 and the results declared on 7-10-1999. The 1st respondent polled 49,930 votes as against 47,955 votes polled by the petitioner, and was declared elected. The other candidates (respondents Nos. 3 to 6) secured a small number of votes each.

( 3 ) HAVING lost the electoral contest to the 1st respondent and by a margin of 1975 votes, the petitioner contests the election by way of this Election Petition. The petitioner asserts that "as many as 5127 votes were rejected due to the ballot adopted by the Election Authority. " The petitioner seeks the following reliefs. (A) Invalidation of the election of the 1st respondent; (b) Direction to respondents Nos. 7 and 8 to conduct a repoll for the constituency using Electronic Voting Machines; and (c) Alternatively a direction to respondents Nos. 7 and 8 to recount the votes polled ignoring the counting held on 6-10-1999 and the declaration of the result of the election on 7-10-1999, with a direction that a fresh declaration of result be made consequent on such recount.

( 4 ) THE petitioner herein challenges the election on two grounds, which are summarised hereinbelow:- (a) That up to the 4th round of counting (on 6-10-1999), the petitioner was leading by 336 votes. The counting took place at the Arts College, Rajahmundry, in two halls, one in the ground floor and the other upstairs. There were seven (7) tables in the ground floor and seven (7) upstairs. The petitioner had counting agents at both the places. After completion of the 4th round of counting, a fire broke out at about 9. 00 p. m. and consequently, the petitioner and his counting agents came out of the halls. There was confusion and commotion. Counting resumed at about 10. 45 p. m. Between 9. 00 p. m. and 10. 45 p. m. ballot papers were lying on the tables and some officers were inside the counting hall. The 1st respondent was also inside the hall, where the counting tables were arranged. Between the time of occurrence of the fire accident and the resumption of counting, some votes were mixed up and added. As a result, after resumption of counting, in each of the subsequent rounds, the petitioner started trailing over the 1st respondent by 230 votes, 538 votes, 1124 votes, 246 votes and 176 votes in the 5th to 9th rounds. The petitioner, thus, suffered on account of the fire accident, on the date of counting. (b) The petitioner suffered prejudice on account of the conduct of the poll by the ballot method. The petitioner lost the election by a margin of only 1975 votes, while the number of votes rejected as "invalid" were 5127. Such large number of rejection of votes was the consequence of polling by the conventional method. If voting were conducted by the use of electronic voting machines, there would not have been such large number of rejected votes. The Supreme Court of India, in A. C. Jose v. Sivan Pillai, AIR 1984 SC 921 while declining to pronounce on the relative advantages or defects of either the conventional system of voting or voting by the use of electronic voting machines, had observed that it is for the legislature and the Government to decide on the merits one or the other system. The Supreme Court, however, observed that voting by electronic machines is a better and sound method to avoid any defects and irregularities that might arise from the manual system. Consequent on the above decision of the Supreme Court, the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (for short the act ) was amended by inserting Section 61 (A), by