PRABHUCHARAN Vs. SHIV DUTT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an appeal against an order of the Election Tribunal, Chhatarpur, dated 22-11-1957, in Election Petition No. 458 of 1957.

(2.) THE matter arises Out of the parliamentary election for the Rewa constituency in this State. The present appellant was a voter for that constituency. At the election eight candidates contested for the seat and one Shiv Dutt Upadhyaya, who is the respondent in this appeal, succeeded, having rolled 41,745 votes. The present election petition as well as the appeal have been filed by the voter Prabhucharan presumably in the interest of one Smt. Rama Mitra who polled 21,318 votes. The main contention on behalf of the appellant, (which was the same in the tribunal below), is that by the allotment of multifarious symbols to the so-called socialist Party there was confusion in the voting and the voters were not able to cast their votes as they would otherwise have, and that it also entailed a considerable amount of propaganda work against the other parties. Me contends that not only the said Socialist Party had set up candidates for the parliamentary election but it had also set up candidates for the Legislative Assembly constituencies and they were not allotted a uniform symbol for all these constituencies as was the case with the recognised parties. The appellant also challenged before us, as he did before the Election Tribunal, the rules, which conferred upon the Election Commissioner power to issue directions and impose restrictions in the matter of allotment of symbols, as ultra vires the representation of the People Act, 1951 (hereinafter referred to as the Act ). He lastly contends that there was discrimination in the allotment of symbols and in the press notes imposing restrictions and conditions under which the symbols were to be allotted to the candidates. These, in short, are the submissions on which the present appellant went as an election petitioner before the Tribunal, but he failed. Hence the appeal.

(3.) THE question of symbols is dealt with in the Representation of the People (Conduct of Elections and Election Petitions) Rules, 1956 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules ). Among these Rules are Rules 5 and 10 which are impugned before us in part. It is provided in Rule 5 that the Election Commission shall, by notification to the Official Gazette, publish a list of symbols and may in the like manner amend such list. In furtherance of this rule the Election Commission published a list of 25 symbols, and those were the symbols to be used for the ensuring elections. Under Sub-rule (2) of Rule 5, in all constituencies other than council constituencies every candidate bad to show his preference for symbols and had to include a declaration in his nomination paper as to the order in which he preferred three symbols. There is a proviso to Sub-rule (2) which reads as follows :