PROJENGTON MOMIN Vs. ELWIN SANGMA AND ANOTHER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN a triangular contest for 45 -Songsak (Scheduled Tribe) Constituency, Meghalaya Assembly, out of a total of 4996 electors a mere 1177 turned up on 9 -3 -1972, the polling date, to exercise their right of franchise. The counting revealed that no less than 84 votes were invalid and that Sri Elwin Sangma, the respondent No. 1 of this election petition, had scored the highest number of votes, viz., 819. The other two candidates, the election petitioner Sri Projengton Momin and the respondent No. 2 Sri Benjamin Sangma, respectively polled 176 and 98, and both of them forfeited their security deposits. Sri Projengton Momin having felt aggrieved with the conduct of the successful candidate during the course of election campaign filed the instant petition claiming the double relief, namely, that the election of Sri Elwin Sangma be declared void and that instead he should be declared to have been duly elected from the constituency in question.

(2.) IT may be mentioned at the outset that the petitioner had contested the seat as an independent candidate with "two leaves" as his election symbol and the respondent No. 2 had fought the election also as an independent candidate with "bird" as his election symbol. The successful candidate Elwin Sangma had contested the seat as the candidate of the All Party Hills Leaders Conference, hereinafter briefly referred to as A. P. H. L. C., which admittedly was and is the ruling party in the State of Meghalaya, The election symbol of Elwin Sangma was "flower." By common agreement the people of the constituency are 80 per cent illiterate and as such the election symbols had their obvious importance for educating the electorate.

(3.) IN paragraph 17 of the petition are detailed specific instances of the distribution, circulation and exhibition of the dummy ballot papers. Briefly summarised, the particulars of those instances are as follows: -