Civil Appeal No 783 of 1975
Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated the 9th April 1975 of the Allahabad High Court in Application No A 7 ion Petition No 22 of 1974
R K Garg section C Agarwala and V J Francis for the appellant
D Mukherjee and Pramod Swarup for respondent No 1
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by SARKRIA J
We have already announced our order in this appeal on the 2nd May 1975
We now proceed to give our reasons therefor
193 The appellant Shri Ram Autar Singh Bhadauria
Respondent No 1 Chaudhari Ram Gopal Singh and Respondents 2 to 11 contested election as rival candidates from U P Legislative Assembly Constituency No 293 Sarsaul
The poll was held on 24 2 1974
The appellant was declared elected
The total number of votes polled was 72735
Out of these the appellant secured 23626 and Respondent 1 his nearest rival polled 23604 the margin being of 22 votes only
Respondent 1 filed an election petition challenging the election of the appellant inter alia on the ground vide para 91 of the petition that the result of the election so far as the returned candidate was concerned materially affected by improper reception and rejection of votes and mistakes in counting
It was alleged para 11a
That in a number of polling stations the instruments supplied to the electors for the purposes of stamping on or near the symbol of the candidate to whom he intends to vote was seal of Presiding officer which was meant to be put on the reverse of the ballot papers
Since the electors were supplied these instruments by the Presiding officer for marking the ballot papers the electors indicated their choice by marking in the column of the petitioner with that instrument
There were 41 such ballot papers which were clear votes for the petitioner that were illegally rejected by the Presiding officer on the ground that the electors  choice was expressed through the instrument meant for the Presiding officer for stamping on the reverse side of the ballot papers
Particulars of such ballot papers are given in Schedule I attached to the Election Petition
b That in a number of polling stations the electors were issued ballot papers along with the counter foil
While issuing the ballot papers to the electors the polling staff 
deputed there did not detach the counter foil and the electors after putting seal mark put the ballot papers along with the counter foil in the ballot box
It was due to the mistake of the staff deputed at the polling station
The number of some of such ballot papers are 100976 100977 100978 100979 100980 100982 100983 and 100984
These ballot papers clearly indicate the votes for the petitioner but they were illegally rejected on the ground that the identity of the elector can be established
The reason on which it was rejected was wholly illegal
The particulars of such bal lot papers are given in Schedule IT attached to this election petition
 In his written statement the successful candidate stated 651
That the contents of paragraph No 91 of the Election Petition are not admitted
The result of the election in so far as the answering respondent is concerned has not been materially affected by any improper reception or 194 rejection or by wrong arithmetical and clerical mistake in counting of votes andor counting and acceptance of void votes in favour of the answering respondent
In fact no improper reception or rejection or arithmetical mistake or any clerical mistake was done in favour of the answering respondent 16
That the contents of paragraph No 11 a of the petition are wrong and denied
It is wrong to say that 41 ii ballot papers mentioned in Schedule I or any ballot paper counted in favour of the respondent No 1 by marking with the seal of the Presiding officer
It is admitted that the ballot papers on which unauthorised seal was found were rejected
Some of these rejected ballot papers may be of the petitioner but most of them were of respondent No 1 and other contesting candidates
That the contents of para 11 b of the petition and Schedule II are not admitted as stated
Only on one polling station due to the mistake of the Presiding officer some bal lot papers were issued along with their counter foils
The counterfoils did contain the name and signature or thumb impression of the voters attached to the ballot paper
In these circumstances such ballot papers were rejected by the Returning officer
It is submitted that such ballot paper were in respect of all the candidates including the respondent No 1
Further no such objection was raised at the time of counting by the Petitioner or his election agent andor his counting Agent
That no different criteria was adopted by the Returning officer in the matter of acceptance or rejection of ballot papers and the respondent No 1 maintains that many ballot papers in which the Electors expressed their choice in favour of the respondent No 1 by putting the seal of the Presiding officer as supplied by the Presiding officer were wrongly rejected during the counting by the Returning officer
 Respondent 1 did not adduce any evidence in support of the allegations extracted above
But on 24 2 1975 he made an application before the High Court praying for scrutiny and recount of the ballot papers
The allegations in para 11a and b of the election petition were reiterated in the application
The appellant in reply filed a counter affidavit which was substantially a reproduction of his reply in the written statement
The learned Judge of the High Court by his order dated 9 4 1975 allowed that application and directed scrutiny and recount of ballot papers on the view that a The appellant was declared to have won by a very small margin of only 22 votes
195 b lt is not in dispute that a number of ballot papers were rejected by the Returning officer as invalid be cause the polling staff of a particular polling station forgot to detach the counter foils of a number of ballot papers
As the counter foils contained the identity of the voters the ballot papers were rejected for no fault of the voters but because of negligence or incompetence on the part of the polling staff
c It is also the admitted case of the parties that a number of ballot papers were rejected because the voters cast their votes by putting their mark not with the marking instrument issued by the Election Com mission but with the marking or stamping instrument issued by the Election Commission for the use of the Presiding officers
This happened because instead of the instrument which the polling staff should have given to a voter to put the mark showing for which candidate he wanted to vote the polling staff by mis take handed over to the voter the stamp meant for the Presiding officer to affix on the back of the ballot paper
 d lt The petition the written statement the recriminatory petition filed by the respondent now appellant and the reply thereto filed by the petitioner would show that this is a case in which both parties have pleaded that there was wrong reception rejection and u counting of votes
 It is against this order dated 9 4 75 of the High Court that this appeal has been filed by the returned candidate after obtaining special leave
Having heard learned Counsel on both sides we are or opinion that the order made by the High Court for a general scrutiny and re count of all the ballot papers cast at the election was not justified
The returned candidate had not categorically and specifically admitted the allegations made in the election petition with regard to the improper rejection of the ballot papers
This will be clear from a comparative reading of Paragraph 11 a and b of the petition and the answers thereto given in the written statement which have been reproduced above verbatim
It is to be noted that the reply of the returned candidate to the contents of the aforesaid sub paras a and b starts with a denial or a non admission
Such a traverse is then followed by qualified and vague admissions that some ballot papers were rejected because they were not marked with the instrument meant for this purpose or bore the names or signatures of the voters on the counter foils that remained attached to them owing to the mistake of the Presiding Officer
After having thus replied to the petitioner s allegations the returned candidate said that most of these rejected 196 ballots had been cast for him and not for the petitioner
This was a counter assertion which was not strictly speaking relevant to the case set up in the petition
Mr Mukherjee learned Counsel for Respondent 1 election petitioner has drawn our attention to the Additional Pleas in the written statement of the appellant
According to Counsel it were these pleas more than anything else that led to the finding that this is a case in which both parties have pleaded that there was wrong reception rejection and counting of votes
 We will discuss this aspect of the case a little later
At this place it will be sufficient to say that since the returned candidate in his written statement did not specifically and fully admit all the facts alleged in Paragraph 11 a and b of the petition the Court could not dispense with proof of those facts altogether
For instance in reply to the facts alleged in Para 11 a of the petition the returned candidate did not admit that the instrument with which such rejected ballot papers were found stamped was supplied by the Presiding officer
On the contrary the reply to sub para a begins with a clear traverse that the contents of paragraph No 11 a of the petition are wrong and denied
This denial notwithstanding the learned Judge appears to have erroneously assumed this fact as admitted by the returned candidate
The parties being at variance on this material point this issue of fact was required to be proved by the party alleging lt
Now we come to the finding of the learned Judge as to the wrong reception and rejection of votes being a common ground between the parties
We have catalogued this finding as ground b which is one of the four pillars on which the impugned order rests
This ground according to Mr Mukherji draws particulars support from the Additional Pleas set up in the written statement
We do not propose to over burden this judgment by reproducing all that has been stated in Paragraph 47 to 56 of the written statement under the caption Additional Pleas
It will be sufficient to extract some of it by way of sample  47
That the Returning officer did not allow any improper acceptance or rejection against the interest or the election petitioner rather mistakes of improper acceptance and rejection of ballot papers were done against the interests of the answering respondent
That many ballot papers which bore the major portion of the stamp mark within the column of the Respondent No 1 were wrongly rejected by the Returning officer at the time of counting
That as in the case of the Election Petitioner the Ballot Papers in favour of the Respondent No 1 with which counterfoils were attached were rejected
In case the Hon ble Court finds that similar ballot papers in favour of 197 the election petitioner are to be accepted the ballot papers in favour of the Respondent No 1 in the same condition should also be accepted and counted as valid votes in favour of the Respondent No 1
That many ballot papers containing votes in favour of the Respondent No 1 were wrongly put in the bundles of the votes in favour of the Election Petitioner
That the bundles of ballot papers in favour of the Respondent No 1 in fact contained more than SO ballot papers and there was thus wrong counting
I say that the Respondent No 1 filed application before the Returning officer on 27 2 74 but the Returning officer without considering the submissions made therein rejected it and did not order for recount
 If we may say so with respect in taking these Additional Pleas into account the learned Judge completely misdirected himself
He overlooked the fact that these Pleas were irrelevant to and beyond the scope of the enquiry into the allegations in the election petition falling under section 1001diii of the Representation of the people Act 1951
These Additional Pleas were in the nature of recriminatory pleas which could not be investigated in this election petition
As clarified by this Court in Jabar Singh vs Genda Lal1 the scope of the inquiry in a case under section 1001 d iii is to determine whether any votes had been improperly cast in favour of the returned candidate or any votes had been improperly refused or rejected in regard to any other candidate
These are the only two matters which would be relevant for deciding whether the election of the returned candidate had been materially affected or not
At such an enquiry the burden is on the petitioner to prove his allegations
In fact section 971 of the Act has no application to a case falling under section 1001 d iii
The scope of the enquiry is limited for the simple reason that what the clause requires to be considered is whether the election of the returned candidate has been materially affected and nothing else
It is true that in a composite election petition wherein the petitioner claims not only that the election of the returned candidate is void but also that the petitioner or some other person be declared to have been duly elected section 97 would also come into play and allow the returned candidate to recriminate and raise counter pleas in support of his case but the pleas of the returned candidate under section 97 have to be tried after a declaration has been made under section 100 of the Act
The first part of the enquiry in regard to the validity of the election of the returned candidate has therefore to be tried within the narrow limits prescribed by section 1001 d iii and the latter part of the enquiry governed by section 101 a will have to be tried on a broader basis permitting the returned candidate to lead evidence in support of the please taken by him in his recriminatory petition but even in such a case the 198 enquiry
necessary while dealing with the dispute under section 101 a will not be wider if the returned candidate has failed to recriminate and in a case of this type the duty of the Election Tribunal will not be to count and scrutinise all the votes cast at the election
Moreover in the instant case it is a matter of controversy to be decided as to whether the recriminatory petition filed by the appellant is within time or not
The above being the law on the point it is clear that the learned Judge was in error in ordering general inspection and recount of the total votes polled at the election merely because in these Additional Pleas the returned candidate also had by way of recrimination complained of wrong reception and rejection of votes and wrong counting of votes
The pleas at this stage could not be investigated even in the recriminatory petition filed by the returned candidate
They were beyond the scope of the enquiry into the petitioner s case which as set up in Para 11 of the petition fall under section 1001diii of the Act Further the High Court did not properly apply its mind to the question whether on the facts alleged in Para 11 a and b of the petition assuming the same to be correct a prima facie case for improper rejection of The 50 ballot papers referred to therein had been made out
In other words if the defects in these SO ballot papers were attributable to the mistakes or negligence of the Presiding officer or his staff would it take those ballot papers out of the mischief of clauses a and b of Rule 562 of the Conduct of Election Rules 1961 Rule 56 runs thus 1 Subject to such general or special directions if any as may be given by Election Commission in this behalf the ballot papers taken out of all boxes used in a constituency shall be mixed together and then arranged in convenient bundles and scrutinised
2 The returning officer shall reject a ballot paper a if it bears any mark or writing by which the elector can be identified or b if to indicate the vote it bears no mark at all or bears a mark made otherwise than with the instrument supplied for the purpose or c if votes are given on it in favour of more than one candidate or d if the mark indicating the vote thereon is placed in such manner as to make it doubtful to which candidate the vote has been given or 199 e if it is a spurious ballot paper or f if it is so damaged or mutilated that its identity as a genuine ballot paper cannot be established or g if it bears a serial number or is of a design different from the serial numbers or as the case may be design or the ballot papers authorised for use at the particular polling station or h if it does not bear both the mark and the signature which it should have borne under the provisions of sub rule 1 of rule 38 Provided that where the returning officer is satisfied that any such defect as is mentioned in clause g or clause h has been caused by any mistake or failure on the part of a Presiding officer or polling officer the ballot paper shall not be rejected merely on the ground of such defect Provided further that a ballot paper shall not be rejected merely on the ground that the mark indicating the vote is indistinct or made more than once if the intention that the vote shall be for a particular candidate clearly appears from the way the paper is marked
3 to 5  
6 Every ballot paper which is not rejected under this rule shall be counted as one valid vote Clauses a and b of Rule 562 are referable to Rule 38 which requires every elector to whom ballot paper has been issued under Rule 38 to maintain secrecy of voting and to make a mark on the ballot paper with the instrument supplied for the purpose on or near the symbol of the candidate for whom he intends to vote
 Rule 38 is also relevant
This Rule requires every ballot paper and the counterfoil attached thereto to be stamped on the back by the Presiding officer with such distinguishing mark as the Election Commission may direct
Every such ballot paper before it is issued is required to be signed in full on its back by the Presiding officer
Sub rule 2 requires that at the time of issuing of ballot paper the Polling officer shall on its counterfoil record the electoral roll number of the elector and obtain his signature or thumb impression
The object of these rules is to secure not only the secrecy of the ballot but also to eliminate chances of sharp practices in the conduct of elections
Their requirements are therefore mandatory and a defect arising from their non observance inexorably entails rejection of the defective ballot paper except to the extent covered by the Provisions to Rule 562
200 In the case of 41 ballot papers mentioned in para 11a what happened was that instead of marking those ballot papers with the instrument supplied for this purpose by the Election Commission the electors concerned stamped it with the instrument meant to be used exclusively by the Presiding officer for stamping the counterfoils and lacks of the ballot papers
The Court had to apply its mind as to whether these facts by themselves were sufficient to attract Rule 56 2 b  This question would further resolve itself into two issues i Was the stamping instrument with which these electors marked the ballot papers given to them by the Presiding officer cr any member of his staff  ii If so could these ballot papers be deemed to have been marked with the instrument supplied for the purpose within the contemplation of Rules 38 and 562b  The first one was an issue of fact the determination of which would depend on evidence
The second issue would arise only on proof of tile first and involve the question of interpreting and applying the phrase instrument supplied for the purpose
This phrase is capable two interpretations one narrow and literal and the other liberal and contextual
Without there being any proof of the fact that the stamping instrument was handed over to the 41 electors by the Presiding officerPolling officer a final expression of opinion on our part would be academic and premature
It will be sufficient to reiterate that the provisions of Rules 38 and 562 a and b with which we are concerned in this case are mandatory and strict compliance therewith is essential
Once it is established that the fault specified in clauses a or b of Rule 562 has been committed there is no option left with the Returning officer but to reject the faulty ballot paper
We would further make it clear that even if any such defect as is mentioned in clauses a or b of Rule 56 is caused by any mistake or failure on the part of the Returning officer or Polling Officer the Returning officer would be bound to reject the ballot paper on the ground of such defect
That such is the imperative of Rule 562 is clear from the fact that the said clauses a and b have advisedly been excluded from the first Proviso to Rule 562 which gives a limited discretion in the matter of rejection to the Returning officer only where the defect is of a kind mentioned in clauses g and h of this sub rule
In the view that such Rules relating to the conduct of elections are required to be observed strictly we are fortified by the ratio of this Court s decision in Hari Vishnu Kamath vs Syed Ishaque and ors1 In That case voters for the House of the People in Polling Stations Nos 316 and 317 in Sobhapur were given ballot papers with brown bar intended for the State Assembly instead of ballot papers with green bar which had to be used for the House of the People
The total number of votes so polled was 443 out of which 62 were in favour of the then appellant 301 in favour of the first respondent therein and the remaining in favour of the other candidates
Rule 471c of the Conduct of the Election Rules 1951 provided that a ballot paper contained in a ballot box shall be rejected if it bears 201 any serial number or mark different from the serial number or marks of ballot papers authorised for use at the polling station or the polling booth at which the ballot box in which it was found was used
 The election petitioner contended that in accordance with this rule the ballot papers received at the two polling stations not having the requisite mark should have been excluded
The returned candidate pleaded that the Returning officer had rightly accepted 301 votes be cause Rule 47 was directory and not mandatory
It was contended that the electors were not at fault and that the wrong ballot papers were issued due to the lapse on the part of the Returning officer and that to reject the votes of the electors for the failure of the Polling officer to deliver the correct ballot papers under Rule 23 would be to disfranchise them and that a construction which involve such a consequence should not be adopted
This Court repelled the contention in these terms If the word shall is thus to be construed in a mandatory sense in Rule 471 a b and d it would be proper to construe it in the same sense in Rule 471 c also
There is another reason which clinches the matter against the 1st respondent
The practical bearing of the distinction between a provision which is mandatory and one which is directory is that while the former must be strictly observed in the case of the latter it is sufficient that it is substantially complied with
How is this rule to be worked when the Rule provides that a ballot paper shall be rejected  There can be no degrees of compliance so far as rejection is concerned and that is conclusive to show that the provision is mandatory
 The above observations are apposite
Judged by the guiding principle enunciated therein it can safely be said that the provisions of rule 562 a and b read with Rule 38 are mandatory and not merely directory
It was contended by the learned Counsel for the respondent before us that the Provisos to sub rule 2 of Rule 56 are only illustrative and not exhaustive and consequently the principles underlying these Provisos would give a discretion to the Returning Officer not to reject a ballot paper on the ground of a defect caused by mistake or negligence of the Presiding officeror Polling officer notwithstanding that such defect is one mentioned in clauses a b c d e and f of Rule 562
This contention is not tenable
The word shall  used in the opening Part of sub rule 2 read in the context of the general scheme of this Rule shows that it is mandatory
Sub rule 5puts the matter beyond doubt
It says that every ballot paper which is not rejected under this sub rule shall be counted as one valid vote
Rule 56 is a complete code by itself
The Provisos to Sub rule 2 are exhaustive of the kinds of defects which the Returning officer may condone if those defects are caused by the mistake or failure of the Polling Staff
The first Proviso is in terms limited to defects falling under Clause 202 g or h
Neither of these Provisos appears to be attracted if the A defects is any of the defects mentioned in clauses a or b
The learned Judge of the High Court has not applied his mind as to whether the facts alleged in Paragraph 11b of the petition if correct would fall within the mischief of clause d of Rule 562
This will necessarily require consideration of the issue whether there has been an infringement if any of the provisions of Rule 38 referable to clause a of Rule 562
Another point in this context for consideration will be whether the counterfoil can be said to be an integral part of the ballot paper so that any writing or marks of identification of the voter on a counterfoil issued to the voter by mistake is to be deemed to be a defect of the nature mentioned in clause a of Rule 562
The High Court has not at all addressed itself any of these questions
Times out of number this Court has pointed out that a general Scrutiny and recount of the ballot papers should not be lightly ordered
Before making such an extraordinary order the Court must be satisfied that all the material facts have been pleaded and proved and that such a course is imperatively necessary in the interest of justice
In the case in hand
the allegations in the election petition vide Paragraph 11 are confined to 41 plus 9 total 50 votes only vide Paragraph
There was no foundation in the petition for ordering a general recount
Nor could the Additional Pleas in the written statement of the returned candidate be taken into account for making an order for general inspection of the ballots because investigation of those pleas was beyond the scope of the case alleged in Para 11 of the petition falling under section 1001 d iii of the Act
We have said enough
We will close the discussion by repeating the note of caution that this Court speaking through V Krishna Iyer J recently sounded in Chanda Singh vs Ch
Shiv Ram1
A democracy runs smooth on the wheels of periodic and pure elections
The verdict at the polls announced by the Returning Officers leads to the formation of Governments
A certain amount of stability in the electoral process is essential
If the counting of the ballots are interfered with by too frequent and flippant recounts by courts a new system is introduced through the judicial instrument
Moreover the secrecy of the ballot which is sacrosanct becomes exposed to deleterious prying if recount of votes is made easy
The general reaction if there is judicial relaxation on this issue may well be a fresh pressure on luckless candidates particularly when the winning margin is only of a few hundred votes as here to ask for a recount Micawberishly looking for numerical good fortune or windfall of chance discovery of illegal rejection or reception of ballots
This may tend to a dangerous disorientation which invades the democratic order by injecting widespread scope for reopen 203 ing of declared returns unless the Court restricts recourse to recount to cases of genuine apprehension of miscount or illegality or other compulsions of justice necessitating such a drastic step In the result we allow the appeal and set aside the order of the High Court for general scrutiny and recount of the ballot papers
However the High Court will have to determine after taking such evidence as may be necessary inter alia i whether
the instrument which was used for marking the 41 votes referred to in the election petition was supplied to the voters by the Presiding officer or any other member of his Polling Staff
If on evidence adduced the learned Judge finds this issue in the affirmative the further question to be considered would be ii whether such supply would answer the legal requirement of instrument supplied for the purpose in Rule 562 b
If both these issues i and ii are answered in the positive then and then only he may proceed to inspection and recount of these votes mentioned in the petition
Similarly after considering the legal questions indicated above he may order recount of the 9 votes alleged to have counterfoils attached thereto
There appears to be no justification for ordering a general inspection of the ballots on the facts of this case
The learned Judge shall proceed with the trial of the election petition in the light of what has been said above
Costs to abide the event in the High Court
PHP Appeal allowed


Summary:
The appellant and respondent No 1 and other candidates contested the election from UP Legislative Assembly Constituency No 293 Sarsaul
The appellant secured 23626 votes and respondent No 1 polled 23604 the margin being of 22 votes only
Respondent No 1 filed an Election Petition challenging the election of the appellant inter alia on the ground that the result of the election so far as the returned candidate was concerned was materially affected by improper reception and rejection of votes and mistakes in counting
It was alleged that 41 ballot papers were rejected on the ground that the electors  choice was expressed through the instrument meant for the Presiding officer for stamping on the reverse side of the ballot papers
the particulars of those ballot papers were given in Schedule annexed to she Election Petition
It was further alleged that some ballot papers were issued along with the counter foil and were therefore rejected
The appellant in his written statement denied the allegations and stated that the result of the election was not materially affected
Respondent No I did not adduce any evidence in support of his allegations mentioned above but made an application before the High Court for scrutiny and recount of the ballot papers
The High Court allowed the application and directed scrutiny and recount of ballot papers on the following grounds a The appellant woo by a very small margin of 22 votes b It was not disputed that a number of ballot papers were rejected because the polling staff forgot to detach the counter foils on a number of ballot papers
c It is also the admitted case or the parties that a number of ballot papers were rejected because the voters cast their votes by putting their mark not with the marking instrument issued by the Election Commission but with the marking or stamping instrument issued for the use of the Presiding officers
d lt is clear from the petition written statement and recriminatory petition filed by the respondent that both parties pleaded that there was wrong reception rejection and counting of votes
The appellant filed an appeal by special Leave against the said order of the Appellate Court
Allowing the appeal   HELD  1 The returned candidate had not categorically and specifically admitted the allegations made in the Election Petition with regard to the improper rejection of the ballot papers
195F G 2 Since the appellant did not admit the allegations the court could not dispense with proof of those facts altogether
196A C 3 The Additional pleas set up in the written statements were irrelevant to beyond the scope of the enquiry into the allegations in the Election Petition falling under section 1001diii of the Representation of the People Act 1951
These Additional pleas were in the nature of recriminatory pleas 192 which could not be investigated in this Election Petition
The scope of the enquiry is limited for the simple reason that what the clause requires to be considered is whether the election of the returned candidate has been materially affected and nothing else
197C F 4 The pleas of the returned candidate under section 97 have to be tried after declaration has been made under section 100 of the Act
197F G The learned judge as in error in ordering general inspection and recount of the total votes polled at the election merely because in these Additional Pleas the returned candidate also had by way of recrimination complained of wrong reception and rejection of votes and wrong counting of votes
198B C The High Court failed to apply its mind to the question whether if the facts alleged in the petition were assumed to be correct a prima facie case for improper rejection of the so ballot papers was made out
Rule 38 of the Conduct of Election Rules 1961 requires every ballot paper and the counter foil attached thereto to be stamped on the back by the Presiding officer with such distinguishing mark as the Election Commission might direct
Rule 56 requires every elector to whom ballot paper has been issued to maintain secrecy of voting and making a mark on the ballot paper with the instrument supplied the purpose by the Election Commission
The object of these rules is to secure not only the secrecy of the ballot but also to eliminate chances of sharp practices in the conduct of election
The requirements are therefore
mandatory and a defect arising from their non observance inexorably entails rejection of the defective ballot papers
198D F 199G H The High Court had to apply its mind as to whether these facts by themselves were sufficient to attract rule 56
The High court had also to apply its mind as to whether the facts alleged in the petition if correct would fall within the mischief of rule 56
200B 202A B Times out of number this Court has pointed out that a general scrutiny and recount of the ballot papers should not be lightly ordered
Before making such as extraordinary order the Court must be satisfied that all the material facts
have been pleaded and proved and that such a course is imperatively necessary in the interests of justice
In the present case
there was no foundation in the petition for ordering a general recount
Nor could the Additional Pleas in the written statement of the returned candidate be taken into account for making an order for general inspection of the ballots 202C E The order of the High Court was set aside
203B The High Court was directed to decide the questions mentioned in this judgment and thereafter decided the application of the Respondent No 1 for recount of the specific ballot papers 203B E