ivil Appeal No 1573 of 1968
Appeal under section 116 A of the Representation of the People Act 1951 from the judgment and order dated April 12 1968 of the Allahabad High Court in Election Petition No 19 of 1967
The appellant appeared in person
LM Singhvi Veda Vyasa Rishi Ram Bishambhar Lal HK Puri UP Singh and KK Jain for respondent No 1
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by Ray J
This is an appeal against the judgment and order of the High Court at Allahabad dated 12 April 1968 dismissing the election petition filed by the appellant
895 The appellant contested the General Election to the Lok Sabha from Hapur Parliamentary Constituency in the year 1967
There were seven rival candidates numbered respondents 1 to 7
The appellant contested the election on the ticket of the Republican Party
He was then a sitting member of Parliament
Among the rival candidates Prakash Vir Shastri was an independent candidate
The election symbol of the appellant was elephant and the election symbol of Prakash Vir Shastri was lion
Prakash Vir Shastri secured 149943 votes while the appellant secured 101875 votes
The Swatantra candidate Sri Naseem secured 34274 votes
The Congress candidate respondent Smt
Kamla Chaudhury secured 33988 votes
The appellant challenged the election on grounds of corrupt practices as mentioned in sub sections 2 3 and 4 of the Representation of the People Act 1951 hereinafter referred to as the Act
At the hearing of the appeal the appellant appeared in person after counsel on his behalf had obtained leave of this Court to withdraw and to allow the appellant to appear in person
The various corrupt practices on which the appellant relied relate to occurrences at six places
The appellant did not press the other occurrences
The first occurrence relates to
a meeting held at the Town Hall Maidan at Hapur on 7 February 1967
The appellant alleged that at the Hapur meeting respondent Prakash Vir Shastri and his supporters delivered inflammatory speeches against the appellant and thereafter the said respondent Shastri s supporters entered the office of the Republican Party to which the appellant belonged assaulted the workers of the appellant tore posters abused the appellant and threatened his workers
In support of the allegations the appellant relied on Exhibit 28 the news report in the Hindustan  published on 8 February 1967 and also on Exhibit 23 the  news
report in the newspaper named Vir Arjun  published on 8 February 1967 and exhibit 22 being the editorial in the Vir Arjun published on 7 February 1967
The newspaper report in the Hindustan  Exhibit 28 published on 8 February 1967 contains the note of the correspondent from Hapur bearing the date 7 February 1967 stating that a big meeting was held in support of respondent Shastri Lok Sabha candidate from Hapur Ghaziabad Constituency
In the Vir Arjun  dated 8 February 1967 Exhibit 23 it is stated that the supporters of the Republican Party were raising slogans that they were championing the cause of Harijans and Muslim youths from Aligarh University were brought for that purpose
It was also stated in the said newspaper that Muslim students of Aligarh were raising the slogans Harijan Muslim are brothers and where from Hindu community has come
Black face be of Brahmin barbar and lala
Throw shoes on Bhat Gujar and Rajput
The appellant in paragraph 11 L15SupCI69 13 896 Of the petition further alleged that respondent Shastri was associated with the Vir Arjun  and K Narendra Editor of Vir Arjun who was a colleague of respondent Shastri wrote an editorial by way of an appeal to support the candidature of respondent Shastri in that newspaper on 7 February 1967 Exhibit 22 and the said appeal was also an instance of corrupt practice
The further allegations in the petition were that at the meeting which was held at the Town Hail Maidan at Hapur on 7 February 1967 respondent Shastri and the said K Narendra Editor of Vir Arjun delivered inflammatory speeches
The appellant generally impeached the judgment of the High Court on two grounds
First that there was no discussion of the entire evidence and secondly that there was rejection of the evidence on behalf of the appellant on consideration that the appellant s witnesses belonged to particular castes and sects
The criticism on behalf of the appellant with regard to Hapur meeting was that respondent Shastri in answer to the petition did not state that there was a meeting on 6 February 1967 and thereby the appellant was denied the opportunity of meeting that case
The appellant relied on the decision of this Court in Badat  Company vs
E I Trading1 and the observations appearing at page 547 of the report in support of the contention that under the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure and in particular the provisions contained in Order VIII of the Code respondent Shastri should have alleged in the pleadings that the meeting was held on 6 February 1967 and in the absence of such allegations respondent Shastri should not have been allowed to make that case
The decision of this Court is of no aid to the appellant
In the case of Badat  Company1 the question was whether there was a contract between the parties and it was alleged by the plaintiff with reference to two letters that the letters would indicate some of the terms of the transaction
The defendant in the written statement did not specifically deny the said two letters
This Court observed that a mere denial of the contract was not sufficient and the rules of the Code enjoined denial of the existence of the letters
In the present case the question was whether a meeting was held at Hapur Town Hail Maidan on 7 February 1967
The respondent denied such a meeting
The respondent was not called upon to state as to whether there was a meeting on 6 February 1967
The news item in the newspaper Hindustan  Exhibit 28 gave news from Hapur under the date 7 February 1967 that a meeting was held at Hapur
Exhibit 23 was a news item in the newspaper Vir Arjun  under the date 7 February 1967 that Shri Narendra Editor of Vir Arjun spoke at an election meeting at Hapur
Neither 1  AIR 1964 SC 539 897 the Vir Arjun news item dated 7 February 1967 nor the news item appearing under the date 7 February 1967 Hapur published in the Hindustan on 8 February 1967 contains any intrinsic evidence that a meeting was held at Hapur on 7 February 1967
Further of the witnesses on behalf of the appellant PW 25 Bal Kishan spoke of the meeting at the Hapur Town Hall Maidan on 7 February 1967 and he also stated that three pamphlets were distributed and two issues of newspapers were also distributed namely the Vir Arjun and Pratap
No such pamphlet was produced
The two witnesses on behalf of respondent Shastri Bhagwati Prasad Jain DW 16 and Rameshwar Prasad Goel DW 18 said that a Congress election meeting was held at the Town Hall Maidan Hapur and no election meeting was held in support of respondent Shastri at the Town Hall Maidan Hapur on 7 February 1967
With regard to the meeting at the Town Hail Maidan at Hapur alleged by the appellant to have been held on 7 February 1967 the oral evidence on behalf of the appellant is that the meeting was held and the oral evidence on behalf of the respondent is that the meeting was not held
In the case of conflicting oral testimony it is safer to place reliance on documentary evidence
First the newspaper report on which the appellant relies contained intrinsic evidence which totally nullifies the appellant s case
Exhibit 28 being the Hindustan  dated 8 February 1967 indicates the news about Hapur under the date 7 February 1967 that a meeting was held yesterday night meaning thereby 6 February 1967 in support of respondent Prakash Vir Shastri
Secondly the newspaper Vir Arjun  published on 8 February 1967 gave the news at Hapur under the date 7 February 1967
The news referred to an election meeting at Hapur but did not mention that the meeting was held on 7 February or on 6 February 1967
Thirdly Exhibit A 12 which is an application by one Lakhi Ram seeking permission from the Municipal Board for holding a meeting on 7 February 1967 in the Town Hall Maidan Hapur throws light on this aspect
The permission given by the authorities which is marked Exhibit A 13 required the persons holding the meeting to pay certain charges towards the use of the electricity
Exhibit A 14 is a receipt for payment of Rs 5
These three documents indicate that the meeting which was held on 7 February 1967 was a meeting organised by the supporters of the Congress Party
Fourthly Exhibit A 2 which is a General Diary of Thana Hapur bearing the date 7 February 1967 shows that a constable was sent to the Town Hall Maidan to make arrangements in connection with the meeting which was to be addressed by one Kailash Prakash
The witnesses on behalf of the respondent Shastri mentioned the name of Kailash Prakash and Smt
Kamla Chaudhury as speakers on behalf of the Congress candidate
It is highly improbable that two meetings of 898 the two rival candidates namely of the Congress and of the respondent Prakash Vir Shastri would both be held on the same date and at the same place
Fifthly the reports which were lodged by the supporters of the appellant with regard to the attack on the office of the Republican Party on 7 February 1967 do not mention or refer at all to any meeting on behalf of respondent Prakash Vir Shastri on 7 February 1967 at the Town Hall Maidan Hapur
It would be natural if a meeting had been held on 7 February 1967 that there would have been reference to the same
The other allegations of the appellant were that respondent Shastri s supporters on 7 February 1967 attacked the office of the Republican Party to which the appellant belonged
There was the First Information Report dated 7 February 1967 about the attack on the office of the Republican Party
This report is significantly silent about any meeting having been held on 7 February 1967 at Hapur Town Hall Maidan
Though there was the alleged complaint about the attack on the office of the Republican Party it appears that there was no investigation
The attack on the party office was not proved by the appellant to have been made by respondent Shastri s workers and supporters
The High Court correctly came to the conclusion that no meeting was held at Hapur on 7 February 1967 and there was no attack on the office of the Republican Party
With regard to
the attack on the office of the Republican Party to which the appellant belonged though the first information report gave the news about the art ok it is strange that there was no investigation
The report of the Joint Secretary of the Republican Party to the President of the Republican Party bearing the date 8 February 1967 alleged that the supporters of Prakash Vir Shastri attacked the office of the Republican Party on 7 February 1967 forcibly took necessary papers and a flag of the Party
Dal Chand Nimesh Joint Secretary of the Republican Party PW 71 in his evidence stated that none of the processions went to his office and further he hid himself in an adjoining room
He did not prove the truth of the statements contained in his report which was marked as Exhibit 11
The attack on the office of the Republican Party was not mentioned at all either in the Vir Arjun of 8 February 1967 or in the Hindustan dated 8 February 1967
It is obvious that if in fact any attack had been made on the office of the Republican Party the supporters of the appellant would have taken steps for investigation and publication
The second occurrence on which the appellant relied is
alleged to have happened at a place called Nagola
The appellant s case was that on 18 February 1967 Prakash Vir Shastri and his 899 supporters who were mostly Tyagi by caste asked the Tyagis to stop the Jatav voters from going to the polling station to cast their votes
It was alleged that Thawariya made the announcement by beat of drums that the Muslim Chamar Bhangi and Jatav voters would not be allowed to go to the polling station to cast their votes
The other part of the appellant s case about the Nagola incident was that there was an assault on Shamshad Elahi a worker of the appellant
The appellant relied on the oral testimony of PW 11 PW 12 PW 15 PW 16 PW 17 PW 19 PW 23 PW 65 and PW 80
The witnesses on behalf of the respondent were DW 4 DW 12 DW 13 DW 30 and DW 33
The oral evidence is in support of the rival contentions namely that the Jatav voters would not be allowed to vote and the denial of the same by the respondent
The appellant also lied on Exhibit N that the Jatav voters would not be allowed to cast their votes by the Tyagis
In support of the case with regard to assault on Shamshad Elahi the appellant relied on the oral evidence of Shamshad Elahi PW 11 and the injury report Exhibit 30 and other documents namely Exhibits 31 32 and 35
The appellant criticised the judgment by contending that there was no discussion of the oral evidence of PW 17 Satya Pal Malik
PW 11 Shamshad Elahi said that he went to Nagola at about 330 pm on 19 February 1967 the date of the election and the voters told him about the proclamation by beat of drums on the previous night and the voters further said that they would be insulted and they should remain there
Shamshad Elahi further said that he met Sevak Ram and Surajbhan Tyagi and 10 or 12 other persons were with them and they beat the witness with lathis and he received a number of injuries
The other witnesses on whose testimony the appellant relied said that people wearing lion badges which was the election symbol of Prakash Vir Shastri asked the witnesses not to cast their votes and they also said that it was announced by beat of drums that no Chamar or Bhangi should cast a vote
Nagola is a village within the circle of Badhnauli
R K Aggarwal DW 33 who was the Presiding Officer at Badhnauli polling station gave evidence
He said that the votes of village Nagola were polled and no Harijan or Mohammedan voter was stopped from casting votes and that there was no complaint that Harijan and Mohammedan voters were being stopped from casting their votes
In cross examination the witness said that no voters from Haidernagar or Nagola were brought to the polling station under police protection
900 PW 80 Sukhbir Singh who was posted as Station Officer Thana Kharkoda said that he received information from Shamshad Elahi that voters at Badhnauli were being stopped from casting their votes
Sukhbir Singh went to Badhnauli
He also went to Nagola
He said that 30 or 40 Harijan voters went to Badhnauli to cast their votes
He said that there was no voter who was taken by him to a polling station in a truck
Sukhbir Singh proved Exhibit 35 which was a contemporaneous report to the effect that no one was stopped from voting at Nagola
Satya Pal Malik on whose testimony the appellant relied said that Prakash Vir Shastri came to Badhnauli polling station on 19 February 1967 and there were 40 to 50 persons around him with lion badges on
His further evidence was that Prakash Vir Shastri asked the Pradhan to beat the voters to make them run away
Prakash Vir Shastri however denied having asked Sheoraj Singh Pradhan to drive away the voters
Thanwaria PW 23 on whose evidence the appellant relied said that he beat the drum in Nagola village on a day before the polling
He said that there were two parties of the Tyagis
One was of Sheoraj Singh and the other was of Pyare Lal
The Jatavs according to his testimony were in Pyare Lal s party and the Bhangis were in Sheoraj s party
The appellant said that Thanwaria was disbelieved only because he belonged to the Chamar caste
That is misreading the judgment
The High Court said that the evidence of Thanwaria did not inspire confidence
That criticism of the evidence of Thanwaria is justified because he came to support the case of the appellant and he belonged to the appellant s camp
Pyare Lal DW 12 said that no Harijan was stopped from casting his vote at Badhnauli polling station and no worker of Prakash Vir Shastri threatened any Harijan voter at the polling station
The appellant criticised the evidence of Pyare Lal that he did not know as to what was happening in the village
Satya Pal Malik PW 17 mentioned the name of Pyare Lal as the leader of one of the parties and Sheoraj Singh as Pradhan of the village Nagola
The oral evidence on behalf of the appellant is not acceptable for two reasons
First if there had been any incident of a voter being prevented from voting a complaint would have been made to the polling officer of the polling station
Secondly Vireshwar Tyagi and Mahendra Singh Verma who were the supporters of the appellant and who are alleged to have said that voters at Nagola were prevented from voting did not lodge any report about the alleged corrupt practice particularly when it was said to be committed by Prakash Vir Shastri himself
901 The assault on Shamshad Elahi which was also said to be an incident of corrupt practice is unacceptable for these reasons
First the injury report Exhibit 30 has to be considered along with the statement of Shamshad Elahi being Annexure M and the report of the appellant being Exhibit 32 and the complaint of Shamshad Elahi being Annexure N being Exhibit 30
The appellant
 in the report dated 17 February 1967 Exhibit 32 spoke of voters not being allowed to exercise their votes
Shamshad Elahi in his complaint said that 10 or 12 persons beat him with lathis
All this happened on 19 February 1967
The doctor s report was about the injuries
First it is peculiar that there was no complaint about the injuries after the injury report
Secondly there is no evidence that the assault was by the workers of Prakash Vir Shastri
Shamshad Elahi in his evidence mentioned the names of Sevak Singh and Surajbhan Tyagi
These names were not mentioned in the complaint being Exhibit 30
In cross examination Shamshad Elahi was asked as to how he had obtained the names and his answer was that he met the grass cutter who gave the names
It is curious that the grass cutter who gave the names was not examined
The third incident on which the appellant relied took place at Chhajjupur
The allegations are that on 2 February 1967 an election meeting was organised in support of the candidature of the appellant and the supporters of respondent Prakash Vir Shastri created disturbance with the result that the meeting could not be continued and the supporters of respondent Prakash Vir Shastri are alleged to have chased the appellant
The High Court rightly commented on the absence of any report having been made by the appellant to the Election Commissioner or the police about the alleged occurrence
It is Obvious that if the appellant had been chased he would have made report to the Election Commission or to the police
The appellant relied on the news item in the Patriot dated 5 February 1967
The news item was referred to by Mahesh Chandra Agarwal PW 14 who however was not present at the meeting at Chhajjupur
He referred to a conversation with the Superintendent of Police
The Senior Superintendent of Police was not examined
No police report was produced
The truth of the newspaper report was not corroborated nor was the statement in the news item proved
On the contrary Mahesh Chandra Agarwal nullified the news item by admitting that he was not present at the meeting
PW 18 Tejpal Singh spoke of the incident of 2 February 1967 and mentioned about the shouting of slogans and throwing of brick bats
PW 10 Som Prakash spoke of charge sheet under sections 147 and 342 of the Indian Penal Code against certain persons
He spoke of the report of 3 February 1967 and a report of 9 February 1967
The report dated 3 February 1967 902 relates to the occurrence on 2 February 1967 at Chhajjupur
The report of 9 February 1967 also relates to the alleged incident of 2 February 1967 at Chhajjupur
The witness Sofa Prakash PW 10 admitted that no investigation was made
It is significant that the name of the appellant is not mentioned in either of complainrs or reports
The allegations in the report are that some disturbances was created and names of various persons are mentioned as having tried to run towards
the jeep which carried the leaders of the Republican Party
One of the witnesses Devi Dayal Sen PW 63 said that when the appellant rose to speak some people pelted stones at him
The alleged incident at Chhajjupur is unacceptable because first there was no complaint by the appellant to the Election Commissioner secondly there was no police case and no investigation thirdly the reports did not mention the name of the appellant as having been assaulted or chased and fourthly the news item in the Patriot was not proved as to the truth of the contents therein
The fourth occurrence on which the appellant relied was at a place called Opehra
The appellant alleged that some persons were stopped from casting their votes
The appellant relied of the oral evidence of PWs
58 59 and 60
PW 60 is Manzoor Ahmad MLA The other two witnesses were Durga Das and Ram Prasad
The appellant criticised the judgment that there was no mention of the name of Manzoor Ahmad
The diaries being Exhibits A 23 A 32 and A 29 were produced to show that the election at Opehra polling station passed off peacefully and therefore no one stopped any voter from casting vote
Manroof Ahmad his oral evidence said that he saw people armed with lathis and ballams
He said that he made a complaint to the Presiding Officer and admitted in cross examination that there was no written complaint
Manzoor Ahmad did not prove that any person was stopped from voting
The fifth and the sixth occurrences on which the appellant relied took place at Datiyana and Bankhanda
It is alleged by the appellant that at Datiyana the agents and the supporters of respondent Prakash Vir Shastri threatened the Scheduled Caste and Harijan voters and prevented them from going to the polling station
The allegations about the occurrence at Bankhanda are to similar effect
The appellant relied on Exhibit 18 which was a memorandum addressed by several voters who stated that they remained within the house and could not vote because the village Tyagi Kailash Chand threatened to kill them if they would vote
PW 65 Vireshwar Tyagi spoke of the incidents at Nagola Bankhanda and Hapur and his wife Smt
Prakash Vireshwar Tyagi spoke of the alleged incident at Datiyana
The respondents 903 witnesses denied that any person was prevented from casting vote at Datiyana
The allegations with regard to the Bankhanda were referred to by Vireshwar Tyagi and other witnesses
The diary which produced with regard to the polling station disproved any such incident
The diaries are Exhibits A 19 and A 21
DW 20 Chandoo Singh stated that he was at the polling station at Bankhanda and no one was stopped from exercising the right of franchise
21 and 22 also spoke of polling at Bankhanda having been peaceful
The appellant referred to
religious songs which were said to be praise of respondent Prakash Vir Shastri
Mere praise worthy songs will not be an instance of corrupt practice
All the allegations about the voters having been stopped from casting their franchise followed the same pattern of oral evidence
The absence of any report either to the Election Commission or to the Police authorities is an important and noticeable feature and therefore the oral evidence is not acceptable
The other allegations relied on by the appellant are that respondent Prakash Vir Shastri is guilty of corrupt practice under sub sections 3 3A and 4 of section 123 of the said Act
The appellant contended that respondent Prakash Vir Shastri made communal propaganda against the appellant and also published false statements in relation to the personal character of the appellant
In aid of the contentions the appellant relied on annexures KK and MM
The appellant relied on the upper portion of annexure KK in support of the contention that the slogans amounted to communal propaganda
The lower portion of annexure KK was contended by the appellant to be allegations against the personal character of the appellant
Annexure MM was said by the appellant to contain slogans amounting to communal propaganda against the appellant
It was said by the appellant that respondent Prakash Vir Shastri promoted feelings of enmity or hatred against the appellant and further raised communal propaganda
The appellant also relied on Exhibit 22 being the editorial in Vir Arjun dated 7 February 1967 in support of the contention that the editorial constituted communal propaganda against the appellant
In Guruji Shrihar Baliram Jivatode vs Vithalrao and Others1 this Court dealt with the scope and content of subsection 4 of section 123 of the Act
The Act is intended to protect freedom of speech on the one hand and to restrain malicious propaganda on the other
The provisions contained in subsection 4 of section 123 were said by this Court to be contra 1 904 vened when any false allegation of fact pierces the politician and touches the person of the candidate
It is the personal character and conduct of the candidate which is to be protected from malicious or false attacks
The statement in question has to be first a false statement bearing
on the personal character and conduct of the candidate and secondly the statement complained of must be one which is reasonably calculated to prejudice the prospects of the election of the person
Under the provisions contained in sub section 3A of the said Act the promotion of or attempt to promote feelings of enmity or hatred between different classes of citizens of India on grounds of religion face caste community or language is the mischief which is sought to be avoided by making the same a corrupt practice
The sub section further says that such promotion or attempt to promote enmity or hatred is for the furtherance of the election of the candidate or for prejudicially affecting the election of any candidate
The words personal character or conduct were explained by this Court in TK Gangi Reddy vs MC Anjaneya Reddy and others1 to be equated with his mental or moral nature
Conduct connotes at person s actions or behaviour
Annexure KK was not proved and therefore it cannot be said to constitute any communal propaganda
Assuming it were proved there is no appeal to vote for a person on the ground of religion nor is there any appeal not to vote for a person on the ground of his religion
Further the provisions contained in sub section 4 of section 123 require the publication with the consent of the candidate or his election agent
In the present case annexure KK has not been established to be published with the consent of the respondent Prakash Vir Shastri or his election agent
It therefore follows that annexure KK offends neither the provisions contained in sub section 3A nor in sub section 4 of section 123 of the Act
Annexure MM was said by the appellant to be a communal propaganda
Arnexure MM was not proved
Even if it were proved the slogans do not offend the provisions of either subsection 3A or sub section 4 of section 123 of the Act
The publication in the newspaper Vir Arjun  Exhibit 22 is to the effect that differences between Hindus and Harijans were being spread by the supporters of the Republican candidate meaning thereby the appellant and if students from Muslim University were brought in by them then students from Ghaziabad would be brought into the field
The newspaper certainty 1  905 Was inclined in favour of respondent Prakash Vir Shastri but the newspaper publication said that Prakash Vir Shastri would not unlike the Congress candidate preach communal hatred
The statements in Exhibit 22 do not make any reflection on the moral or mental nature of the appellant and they do not touch the personal character of the appellant nor do they promote enmity or hatred on grounds of religion
The appellant failed to prove that respondent Prakash Vir Shastri committed any corrupt practice in relation to the personal character and conduct of the appellant
The newspaper publication Exhibit 22 was an appeal on behalf of respondent Prakash Vir Shastri
As long as the publication is not tainted by corrupt practice such an appeal will not be an infraction of the provisions as to corrupt practices as contemplated in the Representation of the People Act
Suggestions that attempts are made to accentuate the differences between the Hindus and Harijans in the article cannot be extracted in isolation from the entire context
The electorate at the time of the election has to be kept in the forefront in judging whether the article can be said to offend the provisions relating to corrupt practices
The Court is to ascertain whether the statement is reasonably calculated to prejudice the prospects of the candidate s election
This Court observed in Kultar Singh vs Mukhtiar Singh1 that in reading the documents it would be unrealistic to ignore that When appeals are made by candidate there is an element of partisan feeling and there is extravagance of expression attacking one another and it would be unreasonable to
ignore the question as to what the effect of the pamphlet would be on the mind of the ordinary voter who reads the pamphlet
In the light of these principles we are of opinion that there is no infraction of the provisions contained in sub sections 3A and 4 of section 123 of the Act
For the reasons mentioned above this appeal fails and is dismissed with costs


Summary:
The appellant challenged the election of the respondent on the ground that the respondent committed various corrupt practices including that of publication of false statements in relation to the personal character of the appellant
The High Court held the allegations not proved
Dismissing the appeal HELD The provisions contained in sub section
4 of section 123 are traveled when any false allegation of fact pierces the politician and touches the person of the candidate
It is the personal character and conduct of the candidate which is to
be protected from malicious or false attacks
The words personal character and conduct are to be equated with mental or moral nature and the word conduct connotes a person s actions and behavior
The statement in question has to be first a false statement bearing on the personal character and conduct of the candidate
and secondly the statement complained of must be one which is reasonably calculated to
prejudice the prospects of the election of the person
903 H TK Gangi Reddy vs
MC Anjaneya Reddy 1965 1 SCR 175 reference to
The electorate at the time of the election has to be kept in the forefront in judging whether a publication can be said to offend the provisions relating to corrupt practices
The Court is to ascertain whether the statement is reasonably calculated to prejudice the prospects of the candidate s election
In reading the documents it would be unrealistic to ignore that when appeals are made by candidate there is an element of partisan feeling and there is extravagance of expression in attacking one another and it would be unreasonable to ignore the question as to what the effect of the pamphlet would be on the mind of the ordinary voter who reads the pamphlet
905 D Kultar Singh vs Mukhtiar Singh   referred to