In the general election held to the Legislative Assembly of Kerala on 19th March 19 7, the petitioner and the respondent were the contesting candidates from 34 Malappuram Constituency. The respondent was the candidate of the Muslim League supported by the ruling United Front, while the petitioner was the candidate of the Muslim League (Opposition) supported by Jana Sangh and the Marxist party. The counting of votes took place on 20-3-1977 and the respondent was declared elected. The election of the respondent is challenged on the ground that the returned candidate has committed corrupt practices falling within the ambit of Ss.123(3), (3A) and (4) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (for brevity the Act). The respondent is the Chief Editor of'Chandrika', a Malayalam daily paper, which is the official organ of the Muslim League. According to the petitioner the respondent holds share worth three lakhs rupees in the aforesaid company. That newspaper published reports and articles appealing to the members of the Muslim community to vote for the respondent, and not to vote for the petitioner. The reports and articles tend to promote or attempt to promote feelings of enmity and hatred between different classes of citizens on grounds of religion and community, in furtherance of the prospects of the election of the respondent. The respondent published in the said Daily, reports which are false and which the respondent believed to be false and did not believe to be true in relation to the candidature of the petitioner. Paragraphs 5 and 6 of the petition extract the objectionable portions of the matters published in the paper Further, the details regarding the objectionable matters printed and published in the aforesaid Daily are given in paragraphs 7 to 16 of the petition. The objectionable portions are extracted in the aforesaid paragraphs of the petition. According to the petitioner, the concerned publications constituted corrupt practices and the prayer in the petition is for a declaration that the election of the respondent is void and that the petitioner has been duly elected from the 34 Malappuram Constituency.

2. In answer to the summons issued from the court the respondent entered appearance and filed a written statement raising the following contentions. The allegations contained in paragraphs of the petition are untrue and untenable and the election of the respondent is not liable to be declared void Chandrika Daily is published by the Muslim Printing and Publishing Company Limited, Calicur, and the respondent is the chief editor of that newspaper. The actual functions of the editor are being looked after by Sri V. C. Aboobacker, who is the editor, printer and publisher of Chandrika Daily. As a member of Parliament and the Secretary of the Indian Union Muslim League the respondent has other important activities and ha has little time to perform the functions of the chief editor. The respondent was not in a position to devote any time to look after the day-to-day editing of Chandrika Daily and he was only nominally holding the post of Chief Editor, and the actual day-today work was done by Sri V C. Aboobacker. Because of preoccupation connected with the election campaign the respondent was not having the leisure or the time to read through the daily issues of the Chandrika excepting now and then to have a cursory glance at them. Kerala Muslim League holds shares worth Rs. 3 lakhs in the Muslim Printing and Publishing Company Limited and those shares stand in the name of the respondent because the company is an unincorporated body. The respondent is holding the shares for and on behalf of the Muslim League. It is not right or fair to attribute any reports or articles appearing Chandrika to this respondent as stated is paragraph 4 of the petition. The allegation that Chandrika Daily has published reports and articles appealing to the members of the Muslim community ro vote for the Muslim League in the name of