ORDER : This election petition is to declare the election of the 1st respondent void and the petitioner elected.

2. The petitioner and respondents 1 and 2 contested for a seat in the Kerala Legislative Assembly from the Ollur Constituency in the general election held on February 20, 1967. After counting of votes the next day the Returning Officer rejected 1763 ballot papers as invalid and announced them to have polled 24, 421; 24, 569 and 1,025 votes respectively and declared the 1st respondent elected. The petitioner challenges the election on the following allegations :

(1) "the chief counting agent of the petitioner applied in writing to the Returning Officer to recount the votes polled" but he "read through the same and returned it. . . for getting the petition typed and before the typed copy could be brought declared the 1st respondent duly elected;

(2) "many ballot papers which were validly marked for the petitioner were rejected as invalid" by the counting supervisors finally, though they "have no jurisdiction to do so";

(3) many ballot papers having had "two marks, one on the symbol of the 1st respondent and the other on the symbol of the 2nd respondent." were counted by the co

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