MANPHUL SINGH Vs. SURINDER SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this appeal by special leave the appellant questions the propriety of an order made by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh in the course of trial of an election petition allowing petitioner's experts to inspect the counterfoils of the ballot papers of voters who had been found by the Court "prima facie to have been impersonated".

(2.) The facts leading to the order under appeal are briefly as follows. In the election held on March 11. 1973 the appellant Shri Manphul Singh was elected to the Haryana Vidhan Sabha from the Jhajjar Constituency defeating his only rival, Shri Surinder Singh, the respondent before us, by a margin of 265 votes. Shri Surinder Singh, referred to hereinafter as the petitioner, filed an election petition challenging the election of the returned candidate on various allegations of which the following are material for the present purpose:

(3.) In an application filed on 1-12-1972 the petitioner suggested a procedure to enable him to prove his case of impersonation and double voting. It was stated that he would produce genuine voters who should be shown the counterfoils of the ballot papers to test whether the counterfoils carried their genuine signatures and for this purpose the petitioner asked for production of the counterfoils. This application was pending when the petitioner started examining his witnesses and the prayer was renewed when one Ranbir Singh, P. W. 17, was in the witness box. The prayer was opposed on behalf of the returned candidate but the High Court by its order dated January 5, 1973 allowed inspection of two counterfoils of ballot papers to confirm the oral evidence of the witness that he had impersonated two voters by signing their names in the counterfoils.