Honble Dr. CHAUHAN, J.–Vide order dated 7.9.2000, fifteen issues were framed in the election petition and three in the recrimination petition. Issues No. 3, 4, and 14 in the election petition are issues of law and are being taken first at the instance of Mr. M.C. Bhoot, learned counsel for the returned candidate before proceeding on the issues of facts.

Issue No. 3: Whether verification of documents contained in Annexures. B,C,F,G,H,I,K,L, M,N and Schedule. 1-A are not in accordance with the provisions of Order 6 rule 15 C.P.C. and if so, whether it can be treated as part of the Election Petition:-

(2). Section 83(1) of the Representation of People Act, 1951 (for short, ``the Act) provides as what should be the contents of an election petition. Clause (c) thereof provides that the petition shall be signed by the petitioner and verified in the manner laid down in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (for short, ``the Code.). Sub-section (2) thereof provides that any Schedule or Annexure to the petition shall also be signed by the petitioner and verified in the same manner as the petition. Order 6 rule 15 of the Code provides that every pleading shall be verified at the foot by the party or by any one of the parties pleading or by some other person and proved to the satisfaction of the Court to be acquainted with the facts of the case. Clauses (2) and (3) of the said Section read as under:-

``(2) The person verifying shall satisfy, by reference to the numbered paragraphs of the pleadings, what he verifies of his own knowledge, and what he verifies upon information received and believed to be true.

(3) The verification shall be signed by the person making it and shall state the date on which and the place at which it was signed.

(3). To verify means: to test the truth or accuracy of or to be proved to be true. Verification means a form of concluding any pleading in which the party makes a solemn declaration that the facts, which are stated in the pleadings or some of them, are true to his personal knowledge, and those which are based on information and believed by him to be true. A person making the verification has to stand by it and take the responsibility for what he has stated. The object of verification is to fix responsibility for the statement made. (Vide Devi Prasad vs. Chairman of the Court of Election Tribunal, Gorakhpur & Anr. (1), and J.B. Ross & Co. vs. C.R. Scriven & ors. (2). A false verification is an offence punishable under Section 199 of the Indian Penal Code. Therefore, the responsibility of verification has to be taken seriously. A person making the verification in an affidavit will be liable to the penalty attaching to the crime of giving false evidence, if the declaration is found to be false to his knowledge.

(4). Issue is regarding the verification of documents contained in Annexures. B,C,F,G,H,I,L and Schedule. I-A as during the course of arguments, Mr. Bhoot gave up the issue regarding Annexures M and N. It is submitted by Mr. Bhoot that verification in respect of those annexures and the Schedule is not in accordance with the provisions of O. VI R. 15 of the Code and if so, whether the said documents can be treated a part of the election petition? It is submitted that though verification has been made by the petitioner himself but the manner in which the verification has been made, is not in accordance with law. Person verifying the contents of the document has to specify the number of paragraphs in the pleadings disclosing the source of information and further to state that he believes the information so received to be true in case it is not based on his personal knowledge, for the reason that O.VI R. 2 of the Code requires the division of pleadings into paragraphs and to be numbered consecutively, each allegation being, so far as is convenient, contained in the separate paragraph. In the instant case, Annexures and the said Schedule have not been verified giving reference to the contents and paragraphs thereo

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