S KANDASWAMI Vs. S B ADITYAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal against the order of the learned District Judge of Kanyakumari at Nagarcoil acting as the Election Tribunal, Tirunelveli in Election Petition No. 98 of 1957. The petitioner, who is the appellant before us, was one Kandaswami. He was a contesting candidate for the election to the Madras Legislative Assembly from the Sattankulam constituency. In the election he was defeated and the first respondent was declared elected to the said constituency. Thereupon, the appellant filed an election petition before the said Election Tribunal questioning the validity of the election of the first respondent and praying that the election of the first respondent to the Madras Legislative Assembly from the Sattankulam constituency should be declared void and that he should be paid the costs of the petition.

(2.) Though the petitioner sought the election of the first respondent to be declared void as required by the rules, the second, third and fourth respondents were made parties, as all of them were either contesting candidates or candidates, who retired from the contest. As a matter of fact, while respondents 1 to 3 were the contesting candidates for the said election, the fourth respondent and two others are said to have been candidates who either retired or withdrew from the election. The fourth respondent is said to have retired from the contest, while P.W. 10 is said to have with drawn his nomination to the election.

(3.) It is not necessary for us in this appeal to go into the elaborate details of the various facts relating to the election in question. We think it sufficient to say that at the election for the said Sattankulam constituency, which was held on the 4th March 1957, the first respondent secured 33,636 votes as against the petitioner, who polled only 22429 votes. The third respondent is said to have polled only 1115 votes and the second respondent 1083 votes only. Consequently, the first respondent was declared elected by the Returning Officer as a result of the counting of the votes.