Gupta, J. - (1.) The appellant contested unsuccessfully the election to Haryana Vidhan Sabha from Pataudi Constituency held in March 1972. Poll was taken on March 11, 1972, counting took place the next day i. e. March 12 following which the first respondent was declared elected. The appellant presented an election petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging the election of the first respondent on several grounds of which only three have been pressed in this appeal. All the grounds urged before us relate to corrupt practices as defined in subsections (2), (3), (4), and (7) (d) of Section 123 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
(2.) Sec. 123 (2) provides that undue influence meaning any direct or indirect interference or attempt to interfere on the part of the candidate or his agent, or of any other person with the consent of the candidate or his election agent, with the free exercise of any electoral right shall be deemed to be corrupt practice for the purposes of the Act. This clause has a proviso which says inter alia that any person who threatens any candidate or an elector or any person in whom a candidate or an elector is interested, with injury of any kind shall be deemed to interfere with the free exercise of the electoral right of such candidate or elector within the meaning of this clause. The allegations under this head are set out in paragraph 12 (i) of the election petition which reads as follows: "That from village Babra, a group of Ahir electors led by Lila son of Makhan including Dhanpat son of Mangal Singh, Hukam Chand son of Mani Ram and Dalip Singh Lambardar went to Polling Station No. 19 at village Jaraula at about 1 P. M. on the 11th March. 1972 in order to poll their votes. When Hukam Chand, Lila, Dhanpat and others were standing in the queue for the purpose of exercising their right of franchise; Umed Singh an agent of respdt. No. 1 on being asked and told by Dhanpat that he would vote for the candidate of Vishal Haryana Party, pushed him out of the queue and told him that if Congress candidate, respondent No. 1 is not voted for by him, then he would not be allowed to vote. On altercation between them Sultan son of Ram Bal, Jat of village Jaraula, Ram Kala son of Maru, Manhar son of Kanhaya and Ganga Datt son of Kishan, who were active supporters and workers of Respondent No. 1 assaulted Dhanpat and Lila by lathis resulting in several injuries on their persons. The polling agent of the petitioner complained the incident to the presiding officer but to no effect. Then the said two injured persons helplessly left the spot and were medically examined at about 3.15 P. M. at Primary Health Centre, Pataudi on 11th March, 1972 and a report was also submitted to the Police Station Farrukh Nagar for necessary action in the matter. On being threatened by the agent and supporters of respondent No. 1 in the same manner, quite a number of voters of village Babra returned without polling their votes and thus they were directly and indirectly interfered with in the free exercise of their electoral rights at the instance of respondent No. 1 and his agent and supporters. It may be mentioned here that Respondent No. 1 had visited the Polling Station just about half an hour before the incident and had told his agent and these persons to see that Babra voters are not allowed to poll their votes." It should be mentioned that the polling station at Jaraula served for two villages, Jaraula and Babra:admittedly, Jaraula is inhabited predominently by Jats and Babra by Ahirs. The appellant is an Ahir and the first respondent is a Jat. Lila Ram who was one of the two injured as a result of the alleged assault by the supporters of the first respondent, deposed as P. W. 6. He is of village Babra. His evidence is that on the date of poll he came to the polling station accompanied by Dhanpat, Hukam, Dalip who were all witnesses and two or three other voters. After he had fixed his thumb impression on the counterfoil of the ballot paper but before he could cast his vote, he heard a noise from outside and leaving the ballot paper on the table of the officer ran out without casting his vote to ascertain what the noise was about. He saw Dhanpat struggling with Sultan and Ahmed who were workers of respondent No. 1. He tried to disengage them when several persons of whom he named Ram Pal, Ganga Datt and Nauhar hit him with lathis on the head. He fell down unconscious and regained consciousness in Gurgaon hospital. He did not report the matter to the police; on the second or third day of his return to his village he came to know that Hukam Chand had lodged a report with the police. The evidence of P. W. 7 Dhanpat who is the other person who was injured is that when he was standing in the queue waiting for his turn to vote, Umed Singh, polling agent of the first respondent, came up and enquired of him as to which candidate he was going to vote for. On the witness telling Umed Singh that he would vote for Vishal Haryana Party, Umed Singh pulled him out of the queue and started beating him. The others, Nahar Singh, Ram Kala and Ganga Datt, also joined Umed Singh and beat up the witness with lathis. Hearing his screams his uncle Lila Ram, P. W. 6, tried to come to his rescue but those persons also assaulted Lila Ram with lathis. Lila Ram fell down unconscious being hit on the head when Umed Singh and his companions ran away. The witness and two others, Karan Singh and Dalip Singh, carried Lila Ram who was still unconscious to Pataudi Civil Hospital where a doctor gave medical aid to both the victims. Hukam Chand proceeded to the police station to lodge a report accompanied by Dalip Singh. According to the witness he could not exercise his right of vote. From Pataudi Dhanpat and Lila Ram were removed to Gurgaon hospital and they returned to their village after two days. According to this witness he complained to the policeman on duty when Umed Singh started abusing him but the policeman took no step. The doctor at Pataudi had asked him if they had reported the matter to the police and he told him that this had been done. According to the witness they did not pay any fee to the medical officer who attended him and his uncle Lila Ram at Pataudi.
(3.) P. W. 14 Roop Chand who was the petitioner's polling agent at Jaraula Polling Station also claimed to have seen Lila Ram being beaten with lathis and statd that he complained to the Presiding Officer verbally. Of the two other eye-witnesses to the incident, P. W. 8 Dalip Singh's version is that he sent Lila Ram and Dhanpat to Pataudi hospital in a jeep and then ran away from the place along with others out of fear, thinking that no further polling would be possible; P. W. 11 Hukam Chand went to Farukh Nagar Police Station at 3 P. M. and handed over to the Head Constable a written application narrating the incident. According to him he had to wait for about an hour or an hour and a half before his report was recorded in the daily diary. He then visited the injured at the Civil Hospital, Gurgaon about 8.30 P. M. Hukam Chand told Dhanpat that he had lodged a report about the incident at Farukh Nagar Police Station. P. W. 9 Jagbir Singh. Head Constable of Police Station Farukh Nagar, admitted that Hukam Chand had submitted a written application which was copied out and entered by him in the daily diary report (Roznamcha).;