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C. JAYACHANDRAN
C. V. John, S/o. Varkey – Appellant
Versus
Mani C. Kappen – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
(C. Jayachandran, J.) :
“At the bottom of all tributes paid to democracy is the little man, walking into a little booth, with a little pencil, making a little cross on a little bit of paper—no amount of rhetoric or voluminous discussion can possibly diminish the overwhelming importance of that point.”
? Winston Churchill [House of Commons, 31.10.1944].
The mandate of the little men from Pala constituency (093) in the election of the Legislative Assembly held on 06.04.2021 is under challenge in this Election Petition. The specific ground canvassed is contravention of Section 77, propounded as a deemed corrupt practice under Section 123(6) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 ('the R.P. Act', for short). Are the charges of corrupt practice to be equated to criminal charges, warranting proof – not by the yardstick of preponderance of probability – but beyond doubt? Does the principles of equity has any relevance in adjudging an Election Petition? Is the court bound to make a finding in favour of the election petitioner, invoking Order VIII, Rule 5, for non-traverse of the allegations, in the written statement? Is contravention of Section 77(1) and (2) a corrupt practi
The court ruled that allegations of exceeding election expenditure limits were not substantiated, emphasizing the election petitioner's burden to prove corrupt practices beyond reasonable doubt.
Non-compliance with election expenditure accounting does not constitute corrupt practice unless it materially affects election results.
Allegations of corrupt practice in an election petition must be supported by specific material facts and full particulars as required by Section 83 of the RP Act of 1951. Failure to plead such materi....
An election petition may be rejected if it fails to comply with mandatory pleading requirements regarding concise statements of material facts and particulars of corrupt practices as per the Represen....
The burden of proving corrupt practices is on the petitioner, and concrete evidence is required to establish allegations of corrupt practices and non-disclosure of expenses.
RP Act is a complete and self contained code, within which, any rights claimed in relation to an election or an election dispute must be found.
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