9911796707
TMI Blog1976 (11) TMI 205X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... election petition in the High Court of Madhya Pradesh asking for a declaration that the appellant's election was void on the ground of corrupt practices described in paragraph 7 of the election petition. A rather unusual feature of this case is that at the stage when the parties were to file their lists of witnesses, petitioner Bhagwan das changed his lawyer and engaged a new lawyer to represent him, and the second respondent Vimalechand appearing through the lawyer who ceased to represent Bhagwan das applies to the court for permission to file his own list of witnesses in support of the allegations made in the election petition stating that he had reasons to think that the petitioner had been won over by the successful candidate. This prayer was allowed. The High Court by its judgment and order dated November 28, 1973 set aside the election of the successful candidate on the view that the allegations of corrupt practice have been proved against him. 3. It is alleged in the election petition that the successful candidate and his agents and workers, at his instance and in the presence, distributed in different villages in the constituency a leaflet published by the Block Con ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s confined to four villages only, namely, Arnba, Baswa, Belatn and Barwaha, and in respect of the copy of PRAGHAND to seven, including besides the four named above, three other villages, Mukhtyara, Sanawad and Bhoolgaon. 5. We will briefly refer to the evidence on which the decision of the High Court rests. As regards village Amba the High Court accepted the testimony of two witnesses, Nohar Singh and Shyam Singh, examined by the second respondent, to hold that the leaflet and the copy of PRACHAND had been distributed there as alleged. Both these witnesses say that the leaflet was distributed in the village about four days before the polling day. This would mean that it was on the 4th and not on the 6th of March, as stated in the election petition, that the leaflet was distributed. The learned Judge did not attach any importance to this discrepancy on the view that the witnesses were giving evidence more than a year after the occurrence. Both these witnesses were however able to recall from memory the exact words used in the two documents defaming the second respondent. According to Nohar Singh, at the time of the distribution of the leaflet, the appellant was accompanied by Meh ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he election petitioner Bhagwandas by his brother Narayan Singh when they met him accidently on tht road about ten or fifteen days after the dale of polling. In answer to Bhagwan das query the witness told him that he had seen the leaflet and the copy of PRACHAND. The learned Judge accepts Mangilal's evidence because he was a prosperous cultivator and apparently unconnected with any political group. Magilal's brother Narayan Singh speaks about the distribution of the copy of PRACHAND. Admittedly Vimalchand was a teacher in the college where Narayan Singh was a student. The witness says that on March 7, at 10.30 in the morning the appellant came in a jeep, stopped in front of the witness house, the witness took him inside, and the appellant gave him a copy of PRACHAND saying read this and after this vote as you like . This witness found what was written therein about Vimalchand Jain as objectionable but did not disclose to anyone that the appellant had given him a copy of the paper. Explaining how he remembered the exact time of the appellant's arrival, the witness says that he happened to note the time on his wrist watch and it stuck in his memory though this happened a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 1 or 1.30 P.M. Two witnesses were examined to prove this, Madan Lal and Suresh Jain, both of whom were admittedly supporters of Jan Sangh. Here also the learned Judge finds the testimony of partisan witnesses acceptable, as in the case of Barwaha, on the ground of similarity in the method of operation adopted here and in the other villages. 9. The case regarding the two remaining villages. Bhoolgaon and Baswa rests on the evidence of a single witness for each. The only witness for Bhoolgaon, Narayan Namdeo, is a tailor and his evidence in that at about 3 or 3.15 in the afternoon on the 7th March, the appellant with Radhakishan Parekh and two local residents, Raghvendra Rao and Surajmal Jain, came in a jeep which stopped in front of the tailors shop. Surajmal is said to have handed over to the tailor three copies of PRACHAND, one for the tailor and two for the two customers who were then sitting in the shop. The pep then proceeded into the village and the witness did not know what happened thereafter. the witness did not like what he read in the paper and in the evening that day he went to Surajmal's house which was near his, and gave the papers back to him. Conduct like thi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... He did not file any election petition and claims to have read the petition only after he received summons from court. At first he says that he did not try to find out the author or the printer of PRACHAND but a little later he contradicts himself and admits that he was eager to know who had printed and published Article 2 (copy of PRACHAND) and who had distributed it . He also admits that he was angry when he saw the leaflet and the copy of PRACHAND, yet he did not take any action himself nor did he take any personal interest in the filing of the election petition. This attitude of unconcern hardly fit in with the zeal with which he pursues the case later. 12. On the evidence discussed above, the High Court held that the corrupt practices alleged against the successful candidate had been proved and declared his election void. this Court does not disturb in appeal the findings of fact recorded by the High Court in election cases except for strong and cogent reasons. However, if these findings have been arrived at disregarding well settled principles governing the approach to the evidence on record, this Court must come to its own conclusion on the evidence. Election petitions a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the printing and publication of PRACHAND must also fail. This was supposed to be a special number of the paper. There is no evidence to prove that this was printed and published on March 7. Neither the editor nor any one else connected with PRACHAND was examined. The High Court thought that the interest of the paper being the same as that of the successful candidate, it was likely that the offending article in PRACHAND was published at his instance. Even assuming that both PRACHAND and the appellant wanted Vimalchand to be defeated, in the absence of any direct evidence that it was at the appellant's insistence that the offending article was published, it is not possible to hold that the allegation is proved against the appellant. 13. The further case against the appellant is that he along with his companions distributed the offending documents in the villages. We have found that the allegation making him responsible for the printing and publication of these documents has not been brought home. If one part of the story goes the other part of course does not necessarily fall with it, but in that case the evidence as regards the distribution must be examined very carefully. Th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the care and caution required in such a case. Certain aspects of this part of the case which raise serious doubts about the truth of the allegation have been over looked or sought to be explained away. It seems that the High Court failed to keep in mind that the proceeding before it was quasi-criminal in nature requiring the allegations to be proved beyond reasonable doubt. The first thing that strikes one on this part of the case is the paucity of evidence. Of course, number is not necessarily a guarantee of truth but it has to be borne in mind that it is easy to get hold of a handful of people and induce them to narrate a short and simple story, as pointed out in Rahim Khan's case. The learned Judge of the High Court also felt that the second respondent has not been able to or has not cared to call a large number of witnesses . The High Court has suggested some reasons to explain the dearth of witnesses, but it appears that the court itself felt that this was guess work and we do not therefore think it necessary to examine the validity of the reasons suggested. 14. Many of these witnesses, again, are partisan or interested witnesses. Their evidence therefore must be viewe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and published the special number of PRACHAND and were responsible for distributing the copies. We admitted in the end that he was angry when he saw the leaflet and the copy of PRACHAND. It is therefore a little surprising that he did not take any staps in the matter or show any interest in the filing of the election petition. This conduct seems to us too unnatural to be believable. 15. The High Court rejected the evidence adduced by the appellant mainly on the ground that this was negative in character which however was the only possible kind of evidence that could be led by him in the circumstances. The negative evidence may not have been sufficient to disprove the allegations, had sufficient and convincing evidence been led to prove them. The High Court also failed to consider that the appellant had examined some of the persons who, according to the witnesses for the second respondent, accompanied the appellant whom the offending documents were distributed, and they have denied the allegation. In any case we have found that the evidence led in support of the allegation of corrupt practice is neither sufficient nor convincing. Not only the oral evidence led on behalf of the se ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
