These applications, preferred under Article 226 of the Constitution for the issue of writs of certiorari and prohibition, arose out of proceedings in Election Petition No. 86 of 1957, which had been filed by Sa Ganesan to avoid the election of the returned candidate, Muthiah Chettiar, from the Karaikudi Constituency of the Madras Legislative Assembly. It should be convenient to refer to Muthiah Chettiar and Sa Ganesan respectively as the returned candidate and election petitioner in the rest of this judgment.

When the returned candidate had occasion at an earlier stage of the proceedings before the Election Tribunal to challenge the validity of another of the interlocutory orders of the Tribunal by applications preferred under Article 226 of the Constitution — the judgment of this Court has been reported in M. A. Muthiah Chettiar v. Sa Ganesan1, — this Court observed at page 123:

“........issue 1........raised the question of the jurisdiction of the Tribunal to continue the enquiry. Issues 2 to 7 were in a way linked up with issue 1 though, even if issue 1 were decided in favour of the respondent, the others had to be considered. These issues involved the consideration of no evi