l Appeal No 11 14 of 1976
From the Judgment and Order dated 22nd September 1976 of the Kamataka High Court in Election Petition No 1 of 1974
L N Sinha K R Karanah  B P Singh for the Appellant
K N Bhat and Miss section Pramila for the Respondent No 1 Y section Chitley and Narayan Nettar for Respondent No 2 The Judgment of the Court was delivered by KRISHNA IYER J
Four heavy volumes of case records confron ted us in this appeal as counsel opened the arguments but some Socratic processing seemed to condense the controversy and forensic prolixity so much so we first thought the case had shrunk to such small dimensions as to be disposed of in a short judgment
But what we initially felt when the brief narration of facts was given proved a 195 snare
For when we read out in court our opinion on the only crucial aspect of the case counsel for the 1st respondent hopefully insisted that the factual grounds requiring our ploughing through ponderous tomes of testimonial collection pleadings and what not should be investigated as he expected to sustain the invalidation of the election by the High Court on the score of corrupt practice and the consequential disqualification of the rival candidate ie the appellant before us
He was entitled to press that part of his case and so we agreed to hear both sides extensively thereon
However hours of argument after we were back to square one
At this stage some relevant facts and circumstances need narration
The Karnataka Legislative Council has in its composition some members elected from the local authorities constituencies
One such member is elected by the local bodies of Bidar district and the specific election that falls for decision was held on May 12 1974
According to the calendar for the poll contemplated in s30 of the Representation of the People Act 1951 hereinafter called the 1951 Act the last date for presenting the nominations was appointed as April 17 1974
Section 331 requires that each candidate shall deliver to the returning officer a nomination paper as set out in the section between II o clock in the forenoon and 3 o clock in the after noon 
The appellant and the first respondent did file their nomi nations in conformity with the law their scrutiny over they entered the fray and after the poll was over the appellant was declared elected having secured 64 votes as against the 1st respondent s 54 votes
The frustrated 1st respondent found 16 illegitimate votes having been cast in favour of the successful candidate and further discovered that these 16 electors were ineligible to figure on the electoral roll but had been surreptitiously introduced therein by collusion fraud and other improper machinations in which the returned candidate and the returning officer were collaborative actors
The purity of the election was polluted
The result of the poll was materially affected
The electoral process was vitiated by corrupt practice  in which the appellant and the 2nd respondent were particeps criminis
He ventured on an election petition with the prayer to set aside the poll verdict inter alia under section 1237 of the 1951 Act and also sought a declaration that he was duly elected on the score that the exclusion of the invalid votes very probably cast in favour of the appellant led inevitably to his arithmetical success as the one who had secured the larger number of valid votes
Such was his case
The petitioner had made somewhat vague sweeping and speculative allegations about government higher and lower echelons of officialdom and the rival candidate but if an apology for specificity is partially present in the petition it is about the charge of corrupt practice roping in the returning officer cum electoral registering officer 2nd respondent and the successful candidate appellant
No issue was originally framed on the critical question of corrupt practice but the learned judge permitted evidence thereon to be adduced a procedure difficult to appreciate
After the trial was virtually closed and the arguments finished the Court discovered the need for framing this decisive issue
On objection as to the absence of material facts and 196 or material particulars the learned Judge framed an issue also on the actual vagueness and legal flawsomeness of pleadings on corrupt practice
Naturally this latter question demanded prior decision but curiously the Court delivered all its findings on the day of judgment a faux pas which we must point out
Processual proprieties are designed to ensure fair play in adjudications and while such prescriptions are not rigid punctilios their observance serves to help the judge do effective justice between parties and the disputants have faith in the intelligent impartiality and full opportunity so necessary for the success of the rule of law
In election proceedings where the whole community is silently present and the controversy is sensitive and feelings suspicious the principles of procedural rectitude apply a fortiori
The judge is the guardian of processual justice and must remember that judgment on judgment belongs in the long run to the people
We state this stern proposition here not merely because a forensic stitch in time saves cassational nine but because courts are on continuous trial in a democracy
In this case we are not satisfied that either party has suffered in substance and procedural breaches unless they spell unmerited prejudice may be brushed aside at the appellate level
Having said this we hasten to add that had not the learned judge uncovered the suspect happenings sinisterly hovering around the last day for finalising the electoral roll the dubious doings of the political government in a seat hungry setting might not have been ventilated for public edification
The electoral events brought out in evidence are power  portents to be prevented preemptively by law and this prompts us to deal with the testimonial circumstances surrounding the inviolable roll of voters having been adulterated after the final hour zealous officers frantically exerting themselves in what seems at first sight to be a series of belated circus operations geared to inclusion of additional names in the rolls before 17th mid night drew the curtain
Caesar s wife must be above suspicion and wielders of public power must fill this bill
A moral matrix and administrative culture must nurture the power process if democracy is not to commit suicide
We will make good the relevance of these critical statements with reference to the incontrovertible facts of this case
However we do not delve into the minutiae of evidence or span the entire factual range that being otiose
A catalogue of circumstances fair to both sides will tell its own moral tale and so we set it out
The last date for completing the electoral roll was April 17 1974
The rival candidates the appellant and the 1st respondent belonged to opposing political parties but the appellants party was in power
Both the candidates had semi VIP status in their respective parties
One member more in the Legislative Council would pro tanto strengthen the Ministry
This political backdrop be lights some of the things which occurred on the dates proximate to the completion of the electoral roll
The administrative locomotion and the human motivation behind what the trial judge had described as manouvres  is simple to understand although as will be shown below we do not agree 197 wholly with all the deductions of the High Court
A particular party is in office
The strength of its members in both Houses is therefore of political significance especially if fluid Politics turns out to be the field of all possibilities
Karnataka has a bicameral legislature and it is reasonable to suppose that the political government has an understandable concern in the election of a member of the Legislative Council who will be of their party
Bidar district in Karnataka has a local authorities constituency seat to be elected by the members of the local bodies there
It follows that the potential electors who are likely to favour their candidate must be brought on the rolls to ensure his victory
Inevitably there was therefore keen interest in incorporating in the electoral roll the members of the Taluk Development Board Bidar for short the Bidar Board
The election to the Bidar Board had taken place years ago 11 of them having been elected way back in 1968 and 8 later
The election of the 11 members had been duly notified in 1968 but the Board itself stood suspended an Administrator having been appointed to run its affairs
8 members who had been later elected to the Board landed up in the High Court on account of writ petitions filed by their rivals
Stay had been granted by the High Court and this led to an absence of 23 of the total members being able to function statutorily necessitating the appointment of an Administrator
Long later the High Court disposed of the writ petitions whereby 3 returns were set aside and 5 upheld
The arithmetical upshot of these happenings was that there were 16 members duly elected to the Bidar Board and the High Court having disposed of the writ petitions in June 1972 the local body could have been liberated from the bureaucratic management of an Administrator and allowed to function through elected representatives
All that was needed to vivify this body of local self government was a notification under the Mysore Village Panchayats Act X of 1959 terminating the Administrator s term and perhaps another extending the terms of some members
Elections to local bodies and vesting of powers in units of self government are part of the Directive Principles of State Policy article 40 of the Constitution and in a sense homage to the Father of the Nation standing as he did for participative democracy through decentralisation of power
Unfortunately after holding elections to the Bidar Board and making people believe that they have elected their administrative representatives at the lowest levels the State Government did not bring to life the local board even long after the High Court had disposed of the challenges to the elections in June 1972
A government under our Constitution must scrupulously and energetically implement the principles fundamental to the governance of the country as mandated by article 37 and if even after holding elections Development Boards are allowed to remain moribund for failure to notify the curtailment of the Administrator s term this neglect almost amounts to dereliction of the constitutional duty
We are unhappy to make this observation but power to the people which is the soul of a republic stands subverted if decentralisation and devolu tion desiderated in article 40 of the Constitution is ignored by executive inaction even after holding election to the floor level administrative 198 bodies
The devolutionary distance to ideological Rajghat from power jealous State capitals is unwillingly long indeed especially in view of the familiar spectacle of long years of failure to hold elections to local bodies supersession aplenty of local self government units and gross inaction even in issuing simple notifications without which elected bodies remain still born We the people  is not constitutional mantra but are the power holders of India from the panchayat upward
Back to the main trend of the argument
It became now compulsive for the party in power to de notify the Administrator and revive the elected body if they wanted the members of the Bidar Board to vote perhaps in favour of their candidate
The 11 members elected long back in 1968 could not vote on account of the expiry of the 4year term unless in view of section 108 of Act 10 of 1959 the government issued another notification extending the term of office of these members
So the elective interest of the candidate of the party in power could be promoted only if three or four quick administrative steps were taken
Firstly there was to be a notification ending the Administrator s term over the Bidar Board
Secondly there was to be a notification extending the term of the 11 members elected in 1968
Thirdly there was to be a notification of the election of the 5 members whose return had been upheld in the High Court in June 1972
Fourthly the electoral roll had to be amended by inclusion of these 16 names
If these steps were duly taken 16 additional members would become electors and the party in power if these electors be longed to that party or were under its influence could probably expect their votes
The poll results show that the contest was keen and these 16 votes would have been of great moment
In this high risk predicament long bureaucratic indolence in issuing notifications and political indifference to the functioning of local bodies produced a situation where the elected roll did not contain the names of the 16 members of the Bidar Board
Only a few days prior to April 17 1974 the D day the affected candidate ie the appellant moved the government for initiation of the steps mentioned above  but nothing happened
On April 16 the day before the crucial date for closing the electoral roll ie the last date for making nominations the appellant moved the Minister concerned who was in Bidar to get the necessary administrative steps taken quickly
He also moved the returning officer RW 2
We find the Minister making an endorsement on the petition
We notice the returning officer seeking telegraphic instructions from government
We see government sending an Under Secretary PW 3 by air from Bangalore to Hyderabad and onward by car to Bidar with some orders
This PW 3 probably apprised the returning officer RW 2 about orders having been passed raving the way for inclusion of the 16 names in the electoral roll
PW 3 the Under Secretary for reasons not known makes a bee line the same evening to Gulbarga where be meets the Minister
The returning officer does not have with him any gazette  notifications
as we see that under section 220 of Act X of 1959 a notification must possess the inalienable attribute of publication in the official gazette
Admittedly the returning officer did not come by any 199 of the necessary notifications before the evening of the 17th
Admittedly he did not have any gazette notifications before April 25th
Under section 27 of the Representation of the People Act 1950 the electoral registration officer who in this case is also the returning officer had to have before him gazette notifications which clearly he did not have till the 25th ie 8 days after the relevant date
Nevertheless he obligingly enough including the 16 names which was in breach of the legal provisions
Frenzied official movements on and after April 16 are visible in this case
The scenario excites suspicion
The candidate meets the Minister of his party on the 16th
The returning officer takes the unusual steps of sending a telegram for instructions from government for inclusion of names in the electoral roll
The Secretariat despatches an Under Secretary to reach Bidar by air dash and long car drive
A meeting between the Under Secretary and the electoral registration officer follows and then the Under Secretary winds up the day by meeting the Minister presumably to report things done and the registration officer supplements the electoral roll by including 16 more names without getting the gazette notification
We have no doubt as we will presently explain that this inclusion is invalid but what we are presently concerned with is the protracted inaction for years of the State government in issuing simple notifications to resuscitate the Bidar Board and the sudden celerity by which a quick chase and spurt of action resulting in a Minister s endorsement the regis tration officer s telegram Secretariat hyper busyness the unusual step of an Under Secretary himself journeying with government orders to be delivered to the registration officer the electoral registration officer hastening to amend the electoral roll slurring over the legal require ment of a gazette notification and making it appear that everything was done on the 17th before mid night and a few other circumstances make up a complex of dubious doings designed to help a certain candidate belonging to the party in power
The officers had no personal interest as such and in fairness we must state the High Court has exonerated them of any oblique conduct to further their own interests
We wish to state clearly that having taken a close look at the developments we are not inclined to implicate any of the officers and there are quite a few involved with mala fide conduct or collusion with the returned candidate
Legal peccadilloes are not fraud or collusion without more
However the performance of the political government and the pressurization implicit in the hectic activities we have adverted to read in the light of the likely political gains accruing to the party in power generate apprehensions in our minds about the peril to the electoral process if poli tical bosses in office rubberise the public services to carry out behests which are contrary to the law but non compliance with which might be visited with crypto punitive consequences
We would have taken a harsher view against the public servants bad we something more than what may even be a rather strong suspicion of obliging deviance
Sometimes they are transfixed between Scylla and Charybdis
Even 200 strong suspicion is no substitute for proof
It has often been said that suspicion is the Upas tree under whose shade reason fails and justice dies
There is a core of truth in this caveat
Shri Bhat counsel for the 1st respondent argued his case strenuously but could not make out that vital nexus between the candidate who stood to gain and the officers whose action he impugned
over the movements of the Minister at about that time raises doubts and the huge expenditure involving in rushing an Under Secretary from Bangalore by air and road to Bidar were a drain on the public exchequer which could have been avoided if action had been taken in time by a few postal communications
But the trial judge erred in substituting suspicion for certitude and drawing untenable inferences where paucity of evidence snapped the nexus needed for collusion
A court must as usual ask for proof beyond reasonable doubt from the party setting up corrupt practice even when there is a veneer of power politics stooping to conquer and officers thereby becoming vulnerable to higher displeasure
The faith of the people in the good faith of government is basic to a republic
The administrative syndrome that harms the citizens  hopes in the State often manifests itself in callously slow action or gravely suspicious instant action and the features of this case demonstrate both
Pi Admittedly the Bidar Board elections were substantially over in 1968 and were more or less complete in 1972 and yet the necessary notifications in the gazette which are the statutory precondition for the local body to be legally viable were for years not published and when the critical hour for the electroal list to be finalised fell at 3 pm on April 17 1974 the government and its officer went through exciting exercises unmindful of legal prescriptions and managed the illegitimate inclusion of 16 names in the electoral roll
We hope that the civil services in charge of electoral processes which are of grave concern for the survival of our democracy will remember that their masters in statutory matters are the law and law alone not political superiors if they direct deviance from the dictates of the law
It is never to be forgotten that our country is committed to the rule of law and therefore functionaries working under statutes even though they be government servants must be defiantly dedicated to the law and the Constitution and subject to them to policies projects and directions of the political government
Be you ever so high the law is above you this applies to our Constitutional order
Shri Bhat counsel for the 1st respondent ultimately argued these aspects of the case
But when we were more than half way through it became clear that the material link to make out invalidation of the election on account of corrupt practice under section 1237 of the 1951 Act was missing because it had not been made out in the evidence that there was collusion between the 2nd respondent and the appellant
At that stage taking a realistic stance counsel acceded to our view that while there was sufficient room for the 1st respondent to be 201 disturbed about the electoral verdict on the score of the inclusion of 16 names there was not any telling material other than speculation or weak suggestion that there was corrupt participation on the part of the officers
If this position were right and we hold it is what remains to be done is to ascertain the legal effect of the inclusion in the electoral roll of the new names after the expiry of the appointed hour and date
According to the calendar for the poll contemplated in section 30 of the 1951 Act the last date for making the nominations was appointed as April 17 1974
Section 331 of the 1951 Act requires that each  candidate shall deliver to the Returning officer a nomination paper as set out in the section  between 11 o clock in the forenoon and 3 o clock in the afternoon
The appellant and the 1st respondent did file their nominations in conformity with sections 30 and 33 of the 1951 Act but the electoral registration officer 2nd respondent in the appeal included the names of 16 persons representing the Bidar Board after 3 pm of April 17 1974
There is a dispute between the parties as to whether such inclusion was directed on the 17th after 3 pm or on the 18th the former being the case of the appellant as well as the 2nd respondent the latter being the case of the 1st respondent and upheld by the High Court
The Court held that in law any inclusion of additional names in the electoral roll of a constituency after 3 pm on the last date for making nomination fixed under section 30a of the 1951 Act was illegal
Consequently
it arrived at the follow up decision that the 16 votes which had been cast by those objectionably added had to be ignored
On a further study of the evidence the Court concluded that these 16 votes had been cast in favour of the elected candidate and should therefore be deducted from his total tally
The appellant who had secured 64 votes as against respondent no 1 s 54 had only a lead of 10 votes
He slumped below the 1st respondent when 16 votes were deducted from his total
The necessary result in the view of the High Court was that not only had the appellant s election to be set aside but the 1st respondent deserved to be declared duly elected
This was done
An appreciation of the evidence bearing on the question as to whether the 2nd respondent ie the Registration officer bad acted under the appellant s oblique influence in including the additional names after the last date for such inclusion has led us to overturn the affirmative answer from the learned trial judge
The holding that a corrupt practice  within the ambit of section 123 had been committed by the appellant who was therefore disqualified under section 8A led to two consequences
The appellant who had won the election at the polls lost the election in the court and worse still suffered a six year disqualification
The doubly aggrieved appellant has challenged the adverse verdict and the wounded 2nd respondent electoral registration officer has separately appeared to wipe out the damaging effect of the obliging inclusion of names of electors after the time set by the law was over
We have already set aside the finding under section 1237 of the 1951 Act of corrupt practice and with it falls the disqualification
2 768 SCI77 202 The short point whose impact may be lethal to the result of the election is as to whether section 23 of the 1950 Act should be read down in conformity with sections 30 and 33 of the 1951 Act
The proposition which has appealed to the High Court has the approval of the ruling in Baidyanath1
The Court there observed in our opinion cl
23a takes away the power of the electoral registration officer or the chief electoral officer to correct the entries in the electoral rolls or to include new names in the electoral rolls of a constituency after the last date before the completion of that election
It interdicts the concerned officers from interfering with the electoral rolls under the prescribed circumstances
It puts a stop to the power conferred on them
Therefore it is not a question of irregular exercise of power but a lack of power
p842 We have earlier come to the conclusion that the electoral registration officer had no power to include new names in the electoral roll on April 27 1968
Therefore votes of the electors whose names were included in the roll on that date must be held to be void votes p 843 There is a blanket ban in section 233 on any amendment transposition or deletion of any entry or the issuance of any direction for the inclusion of a name in the electoral roll of a constituency after the last date for making nominations for an election in that constituency
This prohibition is based on public policy and serves a public purpose as we will presently bring out
Any violation of such a mandatory provision conceived to preempt scrambles to thrust into the rolls after the appointed time fancied voters by anxious candidates or parties spells invalidity and we have therefore no doubt that if in flagrant violation of section 233 names have been included in the electoral roll the bonus of such illegitimate votes shall not accrue since the vice of avoidance must attach to such names
Such void votes cannot help a candidate win the contest
Why do we say that there is an underlying public policy and a paramount public purpose served by section 233  In our electoral scheme as unfolded in the 1951 Act every elector ordinarily can be a candidate
Therefore his name must be included in the list on or before the date fixed for nomination
Otherwise he losses his valuable right to run for the elective office
It is thus vital that the electoral registration officer should bring in the names of all the electors into the electoral roll before the date and hour fixed for presenting the nomination paper
There is another equally valid reason for stressing the inclusion of the names of all electors before 1 1970 1SCR 839
203 the hour for delivering to the returning officer the nomination paper
Section 334 of the 1951 Act reads 4 On the presentation of a nomination paper the returning officer shall satisfy himself that the names and electoral roll numbers of the Candidate and his proposer as entered in the nomination paper are the same as those entered in the electoral rolls  x x x x In the light of this provision the returning officer on receipt of the nomination paper satisfies himself that the candidate s name and electoral roll number are correctly entered
Necessarily this is possible only if the electoral roll contains the names of all the electors
Likewise section 335 which deals with a candidate who is an elector from a different constituency requires of the candidate the production of a certified copy of the relevant entry showing his name in such a roll
The inference is inevitable that there must be a completed electoral roll when the time for filing the nomination paper expires
The argument is therefore incontrovertible that the final electoral roll must be with the returning officer when the last minutes for delivering the nomination paper ticks off
Subsequent additions to the electoral register will inject confusion and uncertainty about the constituents or electors introduce a disability for such subsequently included electors to be candidates for the election and run counter to the basic idea running through the scheme of the Act that in the preponderant pattern of elections viz for the legislative assemblies and parliament the electors shall have the concomitant right of being candidates
The cumulative effect of these various strands of reasoning and the rigour of the language of section 233 of the 1950 Act leaves no doubt in our minds that inclusion of the names in the electoral roll of a constituency after the last date for making nominations for an election in that constituency must be visited with fatality
Such belated arrivals are excluded by the talons of the law and must be ignored in the poll
It is appropriate to quote from Baidyanath1 here  The object of the aforesaid provision is to see that to the extent possible all persons qualified to be registered as voters in any particular constituency should be duly registered and to remove from the rolls all those who are not qualified to be registered
Sub section
3 of section 23 is not an important exception to the rules noted earlier
It gives a mandate to the electoral registration officers not to amend transpose or delete any entry in the electoral roll of a constituency after the last date for making nominations for election in that constituency and before the completion of that election
If there was no such provision there would have been room for considerable manipulations particularly when there are only limited number of electors in a constituency
But for that 1  842
204 provision it would have been possible for the concerned authorities to so manipulate the electoral rolls as to advanced the prospects of a particular candidate
 A more trickly issue now arises Assuming April 17 1974 to be the last date for filing nominations and it is so in the case can the electoral roll be amended on that date to include additional names but after the hour set for presenting the nomination paper  Section 331 specifies inflexibly that the nomination paper shall be presented between the hours of 11 o clock in the forenoon and 3 o clock in the afternoon 
That means that the duration of the day for presentation of nomination papers terminates at 3 o clock in the afternoon
If an elector is to be able to file his nomination paper his name must be on the electoral roll at 3 pm on the last day for filing nominations
So the temporal terminus adquem is also the day for finalisation ofthe electoral register and by the same token that day terminates atjust that hour when the returning officer shuts the door
The day is truncated to terminate with the time when reception of nominations closed
Section 23 of the 1950 Act does state that the inclusion of the names in the electoral roll can be carried out till the last date for making nominations for an election in the concerned constituency
What then is the last date When does the last date cease to be If the purpose of the provision were to illumine its sense if the literality of the text is to be invigorated by a sense of rationality if conscionable commonsense were an attribute of statutory construction there can hardly be any doubt that the expression last date for making nominations  must mean the last hour of the last date during which presentation of nomination papers is permitted under section 33 of the 1951 Act
In short section 23 3 of the 1950 Act and section 331 4 and 5 of the 1951 Act interact fertilise and operate as a duplex of clauses
So viewed the inclusion of the names in the electoral roll after 3 pm on April 17 1974 is illegitimate and illegal
At this stage it may be appropriate to make reference to Ramji Prasad Singh1 to which one of us was a party
Indeed attention of counsel was invited to this decision by the Court
That case turned on the inclusion of 40 voters in contravention of section 233 of
the 1950 Act
By incorporating in the electoral roll new names after the last date for filing nomination this Court held that such inclusion of new names would be clearly in breach of the mandate contained in section 233 of the 1950 Act and therefore beyond the jurisdiction of the electoral registration officer
This view is precisely what we have taken in the present case
In that case this Court on fact took the view that the communication from the Chief Executive Officer of the local authority to substitute certain new names in the electoral roll could not have been acted upon 1  205 before April 6 1972 the last date of nomination being April 5 1972This is clear from the following observation in the judgment  In fact the letter was diarised  by Shri Bose s office on the 6th
The fact of the matter seems to be that the notifications of the 4th April came too late for being acted upon before the dead line which was the 5th
The red tape moved slowly the due date expired and then every one awoke to the necessity of curing the infirmity by hurrying with the implementation of the notifications
But it was too late and the law had already put in seal on the electoral roLL as it existed on the 5th April
It could not be touched thereafter until the completion of the election
 This Court in that case observed that it was impossible to accept the half hearted claim of Shri Bose that he passed orders for inclusion of the new names on the 5th itself 
This Court was not called upon to go into the question as to what would be the legal position if the electoral rolls were actually amended at 1130 pm on 5th April after the last hour for the nomination viz 3 pm on that day
This finer facet which falls for consideration in the present appeal viz whether the last day  contemplated in section 233 of the 1950 Act ends at 3 pm on that day for the purpose or continues until mid night did not actually arise for judicial investigation in Ramji Prasad s Casesupra
The upshot of the above interpretation is that the 16 names which have been brought into the electoral register subsequent to 3 pm of April 17 1974 must be excluded from the reckoning to determine the returned candidate
The learned Judge has declared the 2nd respondent duly elected on the strength mainly of inference drawn from the oral evidence of the rival candidates
The ballots are alive and available and speak best
Why then hazard a verdict on the flimsy foundation of oral evidence rendered by interested parties  The vanquished candidate s apse digits or the victor s vague expectations of voters  loyalty the grounds relied on are shifting sands to build a firm finding upon knowing how notorious is the cute art of double crossing and defection in electoral politics and how undependable the testimonial lips of partisans can be unless authenticated by surer corroboration
Chancy credulity must be tempered by critical appraisal especially when the return by the electoral process is to be overturned by unsafe forensic guesses
 And where the ground for recount has been fairly laid by testimony and the ballot papers which bear clinching proof on their bosoms are at hand they are the best evidence to be looked into
No party can run away from their indelible truth and we wonder why the learned judge avoided the obvious and resorted to the risky
May be thought reopening and recount of ballots may undo the secrecy of the poll
We are sure that the correct course in the circumstances of this case is to send for and scrutinize the 16 ballots for the limited purpose of discovering for whom how many of the invalid sixteen have been cast
Secrecy of ballot shall be maintained when scrutiny is conducted and only that part which reveals the vote not the persons who voted shall be open for inspection
206 What then is the result of the reasonings which have prevailed with us  It is simply this viz that the 16 votes of the members of the Bidar Board should be excluded and the consequential tilting of the result re discovered
We are therefore constrained to direct the High Court to send for the ballot papers and pick out the 16 ballots relating to the Bidar Board members examine them without exposing the identity of the persons who have voted and to whom they have voted and record a rectally excluding these 16 tainted votes from the respective candidates
It the resultant balance sheet shows that the appellant has polled less valid votes than the 1st respondent his election will be set aside and the 1st respondent declared duly elected
If on the other hand despite these deletions the appellant scores over the 1st respondent his return will be maintained
Any way counsel on both sides agree that the best course will be to call for a report from the High Court in the light of the operations above indicated
The learned Single Judge who heard the case will examine the 16 ballots as directed above consistently with natural justice record the number of votes out of the 16 each has got and forward to this Court a comprehensive and correct statement with the necessary particulars
This report shall be made within 3 weeks from the receipt of the records from this Court and the appeal shall be posted for disposal immediately the report reaches
With these directions we dispose of the appeal pro tempore
By way of post script we may state that counsel for the 1st respondent submitted after we crystallized the directions indicated above that he was not too sure whether the 16 ballot papers could be identified
The appellant s counsel however asserted that there were numbers indelibly imprinted on the reverse of the ballot papers and as such the identification of 16 impugned votes may not present a problem
In the event of impossibility of fixing identity a report to
that effect will be forthcoming from the High Court and we may notwithstanding the observations about the oral evidence made above rehear the case with a view to record our finding as to which way the voting went out of the offending 16 so that we may determine whether the result of the election has been materially affected
If it is not possible further suitable directions will be considered
We may also mention that at one stage of the arguments Shri LN Sinha drew our attention to a designedly wide amendment to the Act of 1951 made in the wake of the election case of Smt
Indira Gandhi
Its validity for our provisions has been upheld by this Court in Smt
Indira Nehru Gandhi vs Raj Narain1
It was pressed before us that with the re definition of candidate  in section 79b and the addition of a proviso to section 1277 by Act XL of 1975 the present election petition had met with its statutory Waterloo
But Shri Bhat urged that his averments of officials  abetment of promotion of the appellant s candidacy related also to a point of time after the nomination paper was filed
He also submitted that the imputations against the electoral registration officer were so far beyond his duties that the blanket proviso could not protect the acts
Since we have taken the view that corrupt practice even under the amended section 1237 has not been established 1 207 the pronouncement on the exonerative efficacy of the amended Act does not arise
But officials must realise and so too the highest in Administration that the proviso to section 1237 does not authorise out of the way doings which are irregular
A wrong does not become right if the law slurs over it
We part with this case with an uneasy mind
There is a finding by the High Court that an influential candidate had interfered with officials to adulterate an electoral roll
We have vacated the finding but must warn that the civil services have a high commitment to the rule of law regardless of covert commands and indirect importunities of bosses inside and outside government
Lord Chesham said in the House of Lords in 1958  He is answerable to law alone and not to any public authority
A suppliant obsequious satellite public service or one that responds to allurements promotional or pecuniary is a danger to a democratic polity and to the supremacy of the rule of law
The courage and probity of the hierarchical election machinery and its engineers even when handsome temptation entices or huffy higher power browbeats is the guarantee of electoral purity
To conclude we are unhappy that such aspersions against public servants affect the integrity and morale of the services but where the easy virtue of an election official or political power wielder has distorted the assembly line operations he will suffer one day
Be that as it may we express no final opinion beyond what has already been said
PBR Appeal allowed in part


Summary:
Article 1713 of the Constitution of India provides that of the total number of members of the Legislative Council of a State one third shall be elected by electorates consisting of members among others of local authorities in the State as Parliament may by law specify
Part IV of the Representation of the People Act 1950 which deals with electoral rolls for council constituencies provides in section 233 that no amendment transposition or deletion of any entry shall be made under section 22 and no direction for the inclusion of a name in the electoral roll of a constituency shall be given under this section after the last date for making nominations for election in that constituency
Section 331 of the Representation of the People Act 1951 requires that each candidate shall deliver to the Returning Officer a nomination paper between 11 o clock in the forenoon and 3 o clock in the afternoon
 By a notification issued under section 30 of the Representation of the People Act 1951 the Electoral Registration Officer appointed April 17 1974 as the last date for presenting nomination papers from the local authorities constituency
In the election that ensued the appellant was declared elected with 64 votes polled by him as against 54 polled by respondent No 1
In his election petition the respondent alleged that the appellant in collusion with the electoral officer surreptitiously introduced names of 16 persons representing a taluk board after 3 pm on April 17 1974 and that this act of his constituted a corrupt practice within the meaning of section 123 of the 1951 Act and that the election was void
The High Court set aside the election on the ground that any inclusion of additional names in the electoral roll of a constituency after 3 pm on the last date for making nominations fixed under section 30a was illegal and after deducting the 16 votes cast by those persons from the total votes polled by the appellant declared the respondent duly elected
Allowing the appeal in part and remitting the case to the High Court
HELD  1 There was no telling material other than speculation or weak suggestion that there was corrupt participation on the part of the officers
The material link to make out invalidation of the election on account of corrupt practice under section 1237 was missing because it had not been made out in the evidence that there was collusion between the second respondent and the appellant
201A 2
a The expression last date for making nominations  must mean the last hour of the last date during which presentation of nomination papers is permitted under section 33 of the 1951 Act
In short section 233 of the 1950 Act and section 331 4 and 5 of the 1951 Act interact fertilise and operate as a duplex of clauses
So viewed the inclusion of the names in the electoral roll after 3 pm on April 17 1974 is illegitimate and illegal
204F The sixteen names brought into the electoral register subsequent to 3 pm of April 17 1974 must be excluded from the reckoning to determine the returned candidate
205E 194 Baidyanath  and Ramji Prasad Singh  referred to
bThe prohibition contained in section 233 of the 1950 Act is based on public policy and serves a public purpose
Any violation of such a mandatory provision conceived to pre empt scrambles to thrust into the rolls after the appointed time fancied voters by anxious candidates or parties spells invalidity and there can be no doubt that if in flagrant violation of section 233 names have been included in the electoral roll he bonus of such illegitimate votes shall not accrue since the vice of viodance must attach to such names
202F cIn our electoral scheme as unfolded in the 1951 Act every elector ordinarily can be a candidate
Therefore his name must be included in the list on or before the date fixed for nomination
Otherwise he loses his valuable right to run for the elective office
It is thus vital that the electoral registration officer should bring in the names of all the electors into the electoral roll before the date and hour fixed for presenting the nomination paper
202G H dSection 331 specifies that the nomination paper shall be presented between the hours of 11 o clock in the forenoon and 3 o clock in the afternoon
That means that the duration of the day for presentation of nomination papers terminates at 3 o clock in the afternoon
If an elector is to be able to file his nomination paper his name must be on the electoral roll at 3 pm on the last day for filing nominations
So the temporal terminus ad quem is also the day for finalisation of the electoral register and by the same token that day terminates at just that hour when the returning officer shuts the door
204C eThe inference that could be drawn from section 334 is that there must be a completed electoral roll when the time for filing the nomination paper expires
Therefore the final electoral roll must be with the returning officer when the last minute for delivering the nomination paper ticks off
Subsequent additions to the electoral register will inject confusion and uncertainty about the constituents or electors introduce a disability for such subsequently included electors to be candidates for the election
203D fThe cumulative effect of the various strands of reasoning and the rigour of the language of s233 of the 1950 Act leaves no doubt that inclusion of the names in the electoral roll of a constituency after the last date for making nominations for an election in that constituency must be visited with fatality
203E The case had been sent to the High Court for scrutinising the 16 ballots for the limited purpose of discovering for whom bow many of the invalid sixteen had been cast