Case: P. Malaichami Vs. M. Andi Ambalam &amp; Ors

and there was no rule or any need for him to file a recrimination is wholly beside the point. He had in his counter to the main election petition repudiated every one of the allegations in the election petition. It was at that stage that he should have filed the petition under Section 97 (of course, within 14 days of his appearance). It was not at the stage when the petitioner filed his application for recount that the opportunity or need for a petition under Section 97 arose.11. It was then urged that when all the material was before the Court it was unnecessary for him to have done so. As we have already pointed out this is not an action at law or a suit in equity but one under the provisions of the statute which has specifically created that right. If the appellant wanted an opportunity to question the respondents claim that he should be declared elected he should have followed the procedure laid down in Section 97.In this connection it is interesting to note that in the decision in (1964) 6 SCR 54 = (AIR 1964 SC 1200 ) (supra) the successful candidate in his own petition had pleaded that many votes cast in favour of himself had been wrongly rejected, in regard to which details were given, and that similarly several votes were wrongly accepted in favour of the election petitioner and in regard to which also details were given, and it ended with the prayer that if a proper scrutiny and recount were made of the valid votes received by each, it would be found that he - the returned candidate - had in fact, obtained a larger number of votes than the election-petitioner and for this reason he submitted that the election petition ought to be dismissed. In spite of this it was held that he had to fail because he had not filed a recrimination petition under Section 97.So it is not enough to say that what ought to be looked into is the substance and not the form. If a relief provided under a statute could be obtained only by following a certain procedure laid therein for that purpose, that procedure must be followed if he is to obtain that relief.12. What we have pointed out just now shows that it is not a question of mere pleading, it is a question of jurisdiction. The Election Tribunal had no jurisdiction to go into the question whether any wrong votes had been counted in favour of the election-petitioner, who had claimed the seat for himself unless the successful candidate had filed a petition under Section 97. The law reports are full of cases where parties have failed because of their failure strictly to conform to the letter of the law in regard to the procedure laid down under the Act and the rules.13. Point 3 raised by the appellant has no substance because it was not necessary to lead evidence in respect of any individual vote about improper reception or improper rejection. The decision about improper reception or improper rejection has been given in this case mostly on concessions by both the parties and in a few cases by the Judge himself scrutinising and deciding about all disputed cases. Indeed, there was no need for any evidence except a proper scrutiny of the votes and a correct decision based on such scrutiny as to the candidate for whom it was cast or whether it was invalid. We may at the risk of repetition point out that the process of recounting included decision regarding the question of improper reception or improper rejection and there is no such thing as a general recount and there is no authority in law for suggesting that all that the respondent could have asked for was either a general recount or none at all. Indeed there is no provision in the Act for a petition to be filed alleging "Let all votes be recounted and whoever gets more votes be declared elected."Nor do we think that any question of estoppel arises. Estoppel may arise in respect of each individual vote conceded by one party or the other as valid and given in favour of the other in the sense that having conceded that a disputed vote should have gone to one or other of the parties the party who made that concession cannot go back on it. But where the law provides that no evidence can be given about the improper reception of votes in favour of the defeated candidate who had claimed a seat for himself unless the successful candidate had complied with Section 97, no question of estoppel arises. Concession is akin to admission and the use of such an admission would be evidence. What is barred under the proviso to Section 97 is the giving of evidence by the appellant. Appellant can give evidence either by relying on the respondents admissions or leading independent evidence. In either case it would be giving evidence. And, since giving of evidence is barred, the concessions cannot be used as evidence in favour of the appellant. This is what the learned Judge has very clearly pointed out in his order. We have earlier quoted from the decision in Bhim Sen v. Gopali (supra) where the provisions of S. 97 had not been complied with. Even though as a matter of fact the valid as well as the invalid votes in favour of both the petitioner as well as the respondent might have been counted, the evidence furnished by such votes was not admissible because of failure to comply with the provisions of Section 97.14. Finally, we must deal with the appeal made to us that the justice should be done irrespective of technicalities. Justice has got to be done according to law. A Tribunal with limited jurisdiction cannot go beyond the procedure laid down by the statute for its functioning. If it does so it would be acting without jurisdiction.

Court's decision (1 = petition accepted / positive for appellant, 0 = rejected / negative): 0

Reasoning from the judgment:
0[ds]We are satisfied that the High Court has taken into consideration all the material circumstances and has appreciated the evidence from the correct perspective in coming to the conclusion that the circumstances under which the counting was carried out necessitated acannot understand the anxiety of the Returning Officer in questioning the orders of the learned Judge in the petition for recount as well as the main election petition. After all the concerned parties were fighting it out under the ostensible excuse of questioning the decision of the learned Judge regarding his interpretation of rules 53 and 66. It has been filed really due to the hypersensitiveness on the part of the Minister. Indeed the learned Judge has made fairly strong remarks against the Returning Officer in other respects. He has stated at one place that the Returning Officer had failed in his duty, and at another place that the Returning Officer and the Assistant Returning Officer came forward with a story totally devoid of truth. Nothing is said in the petition about all this which shows that our inference on this point is correct. The petition on behalf of the Returning Officer was wholly uncalled for. It would appear that he is not a freethis enquiry the onus is on the petitioner to prove his allegation. Therefore, in the case of a petition where the only claim made is that the election of the returned candidate is void, the scope of the enquiry is clearly limited by the requirement of S. 100 (1) (d) itself. In fact S. 97 (1) has no application to the case falling under Section 100 (1) (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.(ii) There are cases in which the election petition makes a double claim; it claims that the election of a returned candidate is void and also asks for a declaration that the petitioner himself or some other person has been duly elected. It is in regard to such a composite case that S. 100 as well as S. 101 would apply, and it is in respect of the additional claim for a declaration that some other candidate has been duly elected that S. 97 comes into play. Section 97 (1) thus allows the returned candidate to recriminate and raise pleas in support of his case. The result of S. 97 (l) therefore, is that in dealing with a composite election petition the Tribunal enquiries into not only the case made out by the petitioner, but also themade by the returned candidate. In this connection the returned candidate is required to comply with the provisions of S. 97 (l) and S. 97 (2) of the Act. If the returned candidate does not recriminate as required by S. 97, then he cannot make any attack against the alternative claim made by the petitioner. In other words the returned candidate will not be allowed to lead any evidence because he is precluded from raising any pleas against the validity of the claim of the alternative candidate.(iii) The pleas of the returned candidate under S. 97 of the Act, have to be tried after a declaration has been made under S. 100 of the Act. The first part of the enquiry in regard to the validity of the election of the returned candidate must be tried within the narrow limits prescribed by Section 100 (1) (d) (iii) and the latter part or the enquiry which is governed by S. 101 (a) will have to be tried on a broader basis permitting the returned candidate to lead evidence in support of the pleas which he may have taken by way of recrimination under S. 97 (l). But even in cases to which S. 97 applies, the enquiry necessary while dealing with the dispute under S. 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. As a result of R. 57, the Election Tribunal will have to assume that every ballot paper which had not been rejected under R. 56 constituted one valid vote and it is on that basis the finding will have to be made under S. 101 (a). Therefore, it is clear that in holding an enquiry either under S. 100 (1) (d) (iii) or under S. 101 where Section 97 has not been complied with it is not competent to the Tribunal to order a general recount of the votes preceded by a scrutiny about theirargument is clearly based on a misapprehension. The question that arises in this case did not arise there nor was the earlier decision in Jabar Singhs case, (1964) 6 SCR 54  = (AIR 1964 SC 1200  ) referred to or distinguished. Indeed it was not necessary because they were dealing only with a case falling under S. 100, i.e. a case where the election of the successful candidate was sought to be set aside and not one also falling under S. 101 where the defeated candidate also wants that he should be declared to have beenmay, therefore, look into the law regarding this matter. Under S. 81 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 "an election petition calling in question any election may be presented on one or more of the grounds specified in(1) of Section 100 and Section 101 to the High Court by any candidate at such election or any elector withindays from, but not earlier than, the date of election of the returned candidate, or if there are more than one returned candidate at the election and the dates of their election are different, the later of those twoonly ground on which the defeated candidate could be declared to be elected is under S. 101 (a) that in fact he had received a majority of valid votes. But it is in deciding who has got the majority of valid votes that S. 97 comes into play. When in an election petition a declaration that any candidate other than the returned candidate has been duly elected is claimed, the returned candidate or any other party may give evidence to prove that the election of such candidate would have been void if he had been the returned candidate and a petition had been presented calling in question his election. This right the appellant had but this right is subject to the provision that he shall not be entitled to give evidence to prove that the election of the petitioner in this case i.e. the respondent would have been void if he had been the returned candidate and the petitioner had presented petition calling in question the election unless he had given notice of his intention to give such evidence and also given security and the further security referred to in Ss. 117 and 118 respectively, and every such notice has to be accompanied by the statement and particulars required under S. 83 in case of an election petition and shall be signed and verified in the like manner. None of these things was done in this case. The petition by the respondent had been filed onThe orders for the appearance of the respondent were passed onThe appellant, who was the respondent in that petition, should have given notice under S. 97 within 14 days of his appearance i.e. onand also complied with the other requirements specified therein. The issues were framed onthe recount was ordered onhe judgment itself was pronounced onIt was onthat an attempt was made to file a recrimination petition with a petition to excuse the delay. But even then the other requisites of S. 97 like giving security or the petition being accompanied by statement and particulars required by S. 83 were not complied with. A special leave petition was filed in this Court again applying for permission to receive a recrimination petition. There is, thus, no doubt at all that the appellant did not comply with the requirements of S.we are afraid, is a complete misreading of the petition. No doubt the petitioner has asked for a recount of votes. It may legitimately be presumed to mean a recount of all the votes, but such a recount is asked for the purpose of obtaining a declaration that the appellants election was void and a further declaration that the respondent himself had been elected. This aspect of the matter should not be lost sight of. Now, when the respondent asked for a recount, it was not a mere mechanical process that he was asking for. The very grounds which he urged in support of his petition (to which we have referred at an earlier stage) as well as the application for recount and the various grounds on which the learned Judge felt that a recount should be ordered showed that many mistakes were likely to have arisen in the counting, and as revealed by the instances which the learned Judge himself looked into andit is not proper to interpret the respondents prayer for recount as a request for a mere mechanical process of counting. It was counting contemplated under Rule 56 with all its implications that he was asking for. The very grounds on the basis of which the recount was ordered by the learned Judge show that there was a possibility of mistakes having arisen under anyone of the grounds set out in Rule 56 (2) clauses (a) to (h) and it is to have them taken into account and decided correctly that the respondent wanted a recount. Now, when he wants a recount for the purpose of setting aside the appellants election he necessarily has got to have not merely the benefits of votes which would have originally gone to him but which had been wrongly given to the appellant but also all votes which had been cast in his favour (the respondent) but had been rejected wrongly on one or other of the grounds mentioned in Rule 56 (2) clauses (a) to (h).So, it was necessary for the purpose of the respondents case not merely that votes which were held invalid should bebut also votes which had been held to have been cast in favour of the appellant. The improper reception or rejection, therefore, would include not merely cases where a voter appears before the presiding officer at the time of polling and his vote is received where it should not have been received and his vote rejected where it should not have been rejected. The improper rejection or reception contemplated under S. 100 (1) (d) (iii) would include mistakes or wrong judgments made by the returning officer while counting and exercising his powers under Rule 56 (2), clauses (a) to (h). The fact, therefore, that the respondent asked for recounting of all the votes does not mean that he wanted also that votes which had been wrongly held to have been cast in his favour but should have gone to the appellant as also votes which had been rejected, but which should have gone to the appellant should be taken into account. The respondent was interested in no such thing. He made no such prayer.y the appellant that was interested and bound to do it if he wanted to defeat the respondents claim that he should be declared elected and Section 97 is intended for just such a purpose. It was asked what was the purpose and where was the need for the appellant to have filed a recrimination under Section 97 and what he could have filed when the respondent had asked for a total recount. What we have stated above furnishes the necessary answer. The appellant knew not only that the respondent wanted his election to be set aside but also that he wanted himself (the respondent) to be declared elected. He should have, therefore, stated whatever material was necessary to show that the respondent, if he had been the successful candidate and the petition had been presented calling in question his election, his election would have been void, in other words comply with Section 83. He could have stated therein setting out that while he had no objection to a recount to be ordered (we have already shown that he strongly opposed the recount) there were many votes which would have rightly gone to him (the appellant) which have wrongly been given to the respondent, that there were many votes which should have rightly gone to him but which have been improperly rejected. He should also have complied with the other requirements of Section 97. If he had done that that could have been taken into consideration. There was no difficulty at all about his doing all this. His contention that he had no objection to the recount and there was no rule or any need for him to file a recrimination is wholly beside the point. He had in his counter to the main election petition repudiated every one of the allegations in the election petition. It was at that stage that he should have filed the petition under Section 97 (of course, within 14 days of his appearance). It was not at the stage when the petitioner filed his application for recount that the opportunity or need for a petition under Section 97we have already pointed out this is not an action at law or a suit in equity but one under the provisions of the statute which has specifically created that right. If the appellant wanted an opportunity to question the respondents claim that he should be declared elected he should have followed the procedure laid down in Section 97.In this connection it is interesting to note that in the decision in (1964) 6 SCR 54   = (AIR 1964 SC 1200  ) (supra) the successful candidate in his own petition had pleaded that many votes cast in favour of himself had been wrongly rejected, in regard to which details were given, and that similarly several votes were wrongly accepted in favour of the election petitioner and in regard to which also details were given, and it ended with the prayer that if a proper scrutiny and recount were made of the valid votes received by each, it would be found that hethe returned candidatehad in fact, obtained a larger number of votes than theand for this reason he submitted that the election petition ought to be dismissed. In spite of this it was held that he had to fail because he had not filed a recrimination petition under Section 97.So it is not enough to say that what ought to be looked into is the substance and not the form. If a relief provided under a statute could be obtained only by following a certain procedure laid therein for that purpose, that procedure must be followed if he is to obtain that relief.12. What we have pointed out just now shows that it is not a question of mere pleading, it is a question of jurisdiction. The Election Tribunal had no jurisdiction to go into the question whether any wrong votes had been counted in favour of thewho had claimed the seat for himself unless the successful candidate had filed a petition under Section 97. The law reports are full of cases where parties have failed because of their failure strictly to conform to the letter of the law in regard to the procedure laid down under the Act and the rules.13. Point 3 raised by the appellant has no substance because it was not necessary to lead evidence in respect of any individual vote about improper reception or improper rejection. The decision about improper reception or improper rejection has been given in this case mostly on concessions by both the parties and in a few cases by the Judge himself scrutinising and deciding about all disputed cases. Indeed, there was no need for any evidence except a proper scrutiny of the votes and a correct decision based on such scrutiny as to the candidate for whom it was cast or whether it was invalid. We may at the risk of repetition point out that the process of recounting included decision regarding the question of improper reception or improper rejection and there is no such thing as a general recount and there is no authority in law for suggesting that all that the respondent could have asked for was either a general recount or none at all. Indeed there is no provision in the Act for a petition to be filed alleging "Let all votes be recounted and whoever gets more votes be declared elected."Nor do we think that any question of estoppel arises. Estoppel may arise in respect of each individual vote conceded by one party or the other as valid and given in favour of the other in the sense that having conceded that a disputed vote should have gone to one or other of the parties the party who made that concession cannot go back on it. But where the law provides that no evidence can be given about the improper reception of votes in favour of the defeated candidate who had claimed a seat for himself unless the successful candidate had complied with Section 97, no question of estoppel arises. Concession is akin to admission and the use of such an admission would be evidence. What is barred under the proviso to Section 97 is the giving of evidence by the appellant. Appellant can give evidence either by relying on the respondents admissions or leading independent evidence. In either case it would be giving evidence. And, since giving of evidence is barred, the concessions cannot be used as evidence in favour of the appellant. This is what the learned Judge has very clearly pointed out in his order. We have earlier quoted from the decision in Bhim Sen v. Gopali (supra) where the provisions of S. 97 had not been complied with. Even though as a matter of fact the valid as well as the invalid votes in favour of both the petitioner as well as the respondent might have been counted, the evidence furnished by such votes was not admissible because of failure to comply with the provisions of Section 97.14. Finally, we must deal with the appeal made to us that the justice should be done irrespective of technicalities. Justice has got to be done according to law. A Tribunal with limited jurisdiction cannot go beyond the procedure laid down by the statute for its functioning. If it does so it would be acting without jurisdiction.15. We are, therefore, satisfied that the learned Judge was right in holding that though a general recount had been ordered and an account taken of the valid votes given for both the candidates, it was not possible to take into account any vote in favour of the appellant because of his failure to comply with Section 97. Nor are we satisfied that we would be justified in ordering that this case should be reconsidered by a larger Bench.