JUDGMENT

Daya Chaudhary, J. - The present election petition has been filed by petitioner Harkirat Singh under Section 81 of The Representation of the People Act, 1951 (hereinafter referred to as "The Act") to challenge the election of respondent Amarinder Singh to the Punjab Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) i.e. 76 Patiala Town Assembly Constituency held on 13.02.2002 and result thereof was declared on 24.02.2002, mainly on the ground of "corrupt practices" adopted by respondent in obtaining/procuring assistance of senior gazetted officers of the State for influencing the voters to cast their votes in his favour; incurring more expenses than the prescribed limit and some of the expenses have not been reflected in the accounts of election expenditure submitted by him. Respondent has also projected himself as "Maharaja of Patiala" in the posters issued/published by him just to influence the voters, which also amounts to "corrupt practices" as per provisions of Section 123(2) of the Act.

2. Notice of the election petition was issued to the respondent, who put in appearance through his counsel and filed written statement wherein several preliminary objection were raised including the