142 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH CM-9687-CII-2026 in FAO-6898-2025 Date of decision : 13.05.2026.

KARAMJIT KAUR ....Appellant Versus STATE OF PUNJAB AND OTHERS ...Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PANKAJ JAIN Present : Mr. Sukhjit Singh, Advocate for applicant/respondent No.9.

Mr. Karamanbir Singh Kahlon, Advocate for the non-applicant/petitioner.

Mr. H.P.S. Ishar, Addl. A.G., Punjab for respondents No.1 to 3 & 5 to 8.

Mr. Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, Advocate for respondent No.4.

PANKAJ JAIN, J. (ORAL)

CM-9687-CII-2026 Prayer in this application is for preponement of the date of hearing in the main appeal.

For the reasons recorded in the application, the same is allowed.

Main appeal is preponed and taken on Board today itself for hearing.

FAO-6898-2025 Counsels are ad idem that the election petition was decided without framing issues as required under law.

2. The issue w.r.t. necessity to frame issues while adjudicating the election petition has been deliberated upon in detail by this Court in FAO No.523 of 2025 titled as Sarbjeet Kaur vs. Kamaljit Kaur and others, decided on 01.08.2025 observing as under:

“xxx xxx xxx

9. Underlining the importance of the procedure to be followed in election petition and the effect of the result of the election petition, Supreme Court in the case of ‘Makhan Lal Bangal vs.

Manas Bhunia’, (2001) 2 SCC 652 observed as under:

“19. An election petition is like a civil trial. The stage of framing the issues is an important one inasmuch as on that day the scope of the trial is determined by laying the path on which the trial shall proceed excluding diversions and departures therefrom. The date fixed for settlement of issues is, therefore, a date fixed for hearing. The real dispute between the parties is determined, the area of conflict is narrowed and the concave mirror held by the Court reflecting the pleadings of the parties pinpoints into issues the disputes on which the two sides differ. The correct decision of civil lis largely depends on correct framing of issues, correctly determining the real points in controversy which need to be decided. The scheme of Order 14 of the Code of Civil Procedure dealing with settlement of issues shows that an issue arises when a material proposition of fact or law is affirmed by one party and denied by the other. Each material proposition affirmed by one party and denied by other should form the subject of a distinct issue. An obligation is cast on the Court to read the plaint/petition and the written statement/counter, if any, and then determine with the assistance of the learned counsel for the parties, the material propositions of fact or of law on which the parties are at variance. The issues shall be framed and recorded on which the decision of the case shall depend. The parties and their counsel are bound to assist the Court in the process of framing of issues. Duty of the counsel does not belittle the primary obligation cast on the Court. It is for the Presiding Judge to exert himself so as to frame sufficiently expressive issues. An omission to frame proper issues may be a ground for remanding the case for retrial subject to prejudice having been shown to have resulted by the omission. The petition may be disposed of at the first hearing if it appears that the parties are not at issue on any material question of law or of fact and the Court may at once pronounce the judgment. If the parties are at issue on some questions of law or of fact, the suit or petition shall be fixed for trial calling upon the parties to adduce evidence on issues of fact. The evidence shall be confined to issues and the pleadings. No evidence on controversies, not covered by issues and the pleadings, shall normally be admitted, for each party leads evidence in support of issues the burden of proving which lies on him. The object of an issue is to tie down the evidence and arguments and decision to a particular question so that there may be no doubt on what the dispute