Full Judgment Text
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PETITIONER:
KULTAR SINGH
Vs.
RESPONDENT:
MUKHTIAR SINGH
DATE OF JUDGMENT:
17/04/1964
BENCH:
GAJENDRAGADKAR, P.B. (CJ)
BENCH:
GAJENDRAGADKAR, P.B. (CJ)
WANCHOO, K.N.
HIDAYATULLAH, M.
GUPTA, K.C. DAS
AYYANGAR, N. RAJAGOPALA
CITATION:
1965 AIR 141 1964 SCR (7) 790
CITATOR INFO :
RF 1965 SC 669 (13)
R 1970 SC 522 (35)
APL 1970 SC1231 (14)
R 1971 SC1262 (18)
RF 1975 SC 290 (26)
RF 1975 SC1612 (15)
RF 1975 SC1788 (30)
R 1980 SC 354 (6,10)
R 1985 SC 236 (46)
ACT:
Representation of the People Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) S.
123(3)- Election Petition-Allegation of publication and
distribution of posters containing an appeal to voters to
vote on the ground of religion-If amounts to corrupt
practice-Word "Panth". used in the Pamphlet-Meaning of -
HEADNOTE:
The respondent challenged the appellant’s election before
the Tribunal alleging that it was void inasmuch as for the
purpose of securing votes the appellant had appealed to his
religion and had thereby committed a corrupt practice. He
had addressed seven election meetings and in those meetings
he and his supporters had asked the voters to vote for him
as he was the proper representative of the Sikh Panth, and
so, he would be able to protect the Sikh religion and the
Sikh language. It was further alleged that at five of the
seven election meetings organised by him, the printed
posters (Exts. p. 1 to p. 10) had been distributed by him
and they contained an appeal to the voter--, to vote for him
on the ground of his religion. The appellant denied both
these allegations. He disputed the respondent’s case that
at these meetings any appeal to religion was made. In
regard to the posters, he denied that he had anything to do
with the said posters, except one Ext. p. 9 and pleaded that
the said poster was innocent and its publication and
distribution would not attract the provisions of s. 123(3)
of the Act. Both these questions were answered by the
Tribunal in favour of the respondent. On appeal, the High
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Court reversed the conclusion of the Tribunal on the first
question. lit regard to the posters, it held that all the
ten posters had been distributed by him, but, in its
opinion, except Ext. p. 10, none of the others offended the
provisions of s. 123(3) of the Act. In regard to poster
Ext. p. 10, however, it agreed with the conclusion of the
Tribunal and held that the said poster contained an appeal
to the votes to vote for the appellant on the ground of his
religion, and so, by publishing and distributing it at his
election meetings, he had committed a corrupt practice under
s. 123(3) of the Act. In this Court the appellant contended
that the view taken by the Election Tribunal and the High
Court was based on a misconstruction of the impugned
pamphlet.
Held:In considering the question as to whether a parti-
cular appeal made by a candidate falls within the mischief
of s. 123(3) of the Act, courts should not be astute to read
into the words used in the appeal anything more than can be
attributed to them on its fair and reasonable construction.
The view taken by the High Court and the Tribunal was
inconsistent with a fair and reasonable construction of the
impugned poster. In fact, the High Court did not consider
the different places in the poster where the word "Panth"
had been used and no attempt was made to co-relate these
sentences and to enquire whether the meaning attributed by
the High Court
791
to the word "Panth" was justified in regard to all the
sentences in which that word occurred.
The significance of the reference to the Punjabi Suba in the
impugned poster arises from the fact that it gives clue to
the meaning which the Poster intended to assign to the word
"Panth". Therefore, the word "Panth" in this poster did not
mean Sikh religion and so, it would not be possible to
accept the view that by distributing this poster, the
appellant had appealed to voters to vote for him because of
his religion.
In construing the impugned poster, the High Court did not
take into account the oral evidence. It is true that oral
evidence would not be of any material assistance in
construing the words in the pamphlet; but, the word "Panth"
used in six places in the pamphlet could be properly
interpreted only to mean the Akali Dal party and it was in
that context that the statements made by the witnesses as to
the name by which the Akali Dal Party was known in popular
minds, might have some relevance.
Sardul Singh Caveeshar v. Hukam Singh, (1953) VI, E.L.R. 316
and Baba Gurdit Singh v. Sardar Partap Singh Kairon, Indian
Election Cases by Doabia, Vol. 1, p. 92, referred to.
Political issues which form the subject-matter of contro-
versies at election meetings may indirectly and incidentally
introduce consideration of language or religion, but in
deciding the question as to whether corrupt practice had
been committed under s. 123(3), care must be taken to
consider the impugned speech or appeal carefully and always
in the light of the relevant political controversy.
Therefore, the High Court was in error in coming to the
conclusion that the impugned poster Ext. P. 10 attracted
the provision of s. 123(3) of the Act.
Jagdev Singh Sidhanti v. Partap Singh Daulte, A.I.R. 1965
S.C. 183.
JUDGMENT:
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CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 298 of 1964.
Appeal from the judgment and order dated May 31, 1963, of
the Punjab High Court in F.A.0. No. 5-E of 1962.
M.C. Setalvad, and B. P. Maheshwari, for the appellant.
Bawa Shiv Charan Singh, Hardev Singh and Y. Kumar, for the
respondent.
April 17, 1964. The judgment of the Court was delivered by
GAJENDRAGADKAR, C. J.-The short question of law which arises
in this appeal by special leave is whether by publishing and
distributing a poster (Ext. p. 10) in furtherance of his
election, the appellant, Kultar Singh has committed a
corrupt practice under section 123(3) of the Representation
of the People Act, 1951 (No,. 43 of 1951) (hereinafter
called ’the Act’). The Election Tribunal which tried the
election petition
792
filed by the respondent Mukhtiar Singh challenging the vali-
dity of the appellant’s election, as well as the High Court
of Punjab which heard the appellant’s appeal against the
decision of the Election Tribunal have answered this
question .against the appellant. Accordingly, the election
of the appellant has been declared to be void. Mr. Setalvad
for the appellant contends that the view taken by the
Election Tribunal and the High Court is based on a
misconstruction of the impugned pamphlet.
The appellant was elected to the Punjab Legislative Assembly
from the Dharamkot Constituency and he defeated his nearest
rival, the respondent, by a margin of nearly 8,000 votes.
The appellant had stood for election on the Akali Dal
ticket, while the respondent had been officially adopted by
the Congress Party. After the election of the appellant was
declared, the respondent filed an election petition alleging
that the appellant’s election was void inasmuch as for the
purpose of .securing votes, he had appealed to his religion
and had thereby committed a corrupt practice. It appears
that the election petition had also alleged that the
appellant had appealed to his language and community, but
with that part of the case we are no longer concerned in the
present appeal, because the petition has not succeeded in
that behalf. According to the respondent, the appellant had
addressed seven election meetings held in different places
and on different dates and at those meetings, he and his
supporters had made speeches asking the voters to vote for
the appellant as he was the proper representative of the
Sikh Panth, whereas the respondent represented the Hindu-
ridden Party, and so, the appellant would be able to protect
the Sikh religion and the Sikh language. The petition
further alleged that at five of the seven election meetings
organised by the appellant, the printed posters (Ext. p.I to
p. 10) bad been distributed by the appellant and these
posters contained an appeal to the voters to vote for the
appellant on the ground of his religion.
The appellant denied both these allegations. He admitted
that election meetings were held on his behalf and were ad-
dressed by him and his supporters, but he disputed the res-
pondent’s case that at these meetings any appeal to religion
was made. In regard to the posters, the appellant denied
that he had anything to do with the said posters, except one
Ext. p. 9 and he pleaded that the said poster was innocent
and its ,publication and distribution would not attract the
provisions of s. 123(3) of the Act.
On these pleadings, two broad questions arose for decision.
The first question was whether the speeches alleged to have
been made by the appellant and his supporters at the
election meetings included appeals to the voters to vote for
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the appellant on the ground of his religion; and the second
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was whether the impugned posters Exts. p. I to p. 10 were
published or distributed by the appellant at the election
meetings, and if yes, whether any one or more of them
contained an appeal to the voters on the ground of the
appellant’s religion. Both these questions were answered by
the Tribunal in favour of the respondent. The High Court,
however, has reversed the conclusion of the Tribunal on the
first question: it has held that the evidence led by the
respondent in support of his case that at the election
meetings an appeal was made to the voters to support the
candidature of the appellant or the ground of his religion,
did not establish the respondent’s case. In regard to the
posters, the High Court has held that all the ten posters
bad been distributed by the appellant, but in its opinion,
except Ext. p. 10, none of the others offended. the
provisions of s. 123(3). An argument was urged before the
High Court by reference to the two posters in particular
Exts. p. 9 and p. IO. The High Court rejected the
respondents case with regard to poster Ext. 9, because it
held that it was not clear that the poster contained an
appeal to the voters or the ground of the appellant’s
religion. In regard to, poster Ext. p. 10, however, the
High Court agreed with the conclusion of the Tribunal and
held that the said poster contained an appeal to the voters
to vote for the appellant on the ground of his religion, and
so, by publishing and distributing it at his, election
meetings, the appellant had committed a corrupt practice
under s. 123(3) of the Act. That is how on this narrow
ground. the decision of the Tribunal was confirmed by the
High Court and that raises the question about the construc-
tion of the impugned poster Ext. P. 10.
Before dealing with this question, it is necessary to refer
to the provisions of s. 123(3). Section 123 provides for
different acts which constitute corrupt practices under the
Act. Section 123(3) lays down, inter alia, that the appeal
by a candidate or his agent or by any other person with the
consent of a candidate or his election agent to vote or
refrain from voting for any person on the ground of his
religion, would amount to a corrupt practice. It is thus,
plain that if it is shown that the impugned poster which the
appellant is proved to have published and distributed at his
election meetings contained an appeal to the voters of his
constituency to vote for him or the ground of his religion
that would amount to a corrupt practice under s. 123(3) of
the Act and in that case, the election of the appellant
would be void under s. 100(1)(d)(ii).
It is true that a corrupt practice under s. 123(3) can be
committed by a candidate by appealing to the voters to vote
for him on the ground of his religion even though his rival
candidate may belong to the same religion. If, for
instance, Sikh candidate were to appeal to the voters to
vote for him because be was a Sikh and add that his rival
candidate
794
though a Sikh in name, was not true to the religious tenets
of Sikhism or was a heretic and as such, outside the pale of
the Sikh religion, that would amount to a corrupt practice
under s. 123(3), and so, we cannot uphold the contention
that s. 123(3) is in applicable because both the appellant
and the respondent are Sikhs. In fairness, we ought,
however, to add that Mr Setalvad did not press this
contention before us.
The corrupt practice as prescribed by s. 123(3) undoubtedly
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constitutes a, very healthy and salutary provision which is
intended to serve the cause of secular democracy in this
country. In order that the democratic process should thrive
and succeed, it is of utmost importance that cur elections
to Parliament and the different legislative bodies must be
free from the unhealthy influence of appeals to religion,
race, caste, community, or language. If these
considerations are allowed any sway in election campaigns,
they would vitiate the secular atmosphere of democratic
life, and so, s. 123(3) wisely provides a check on this
undesirable development by providing that an appeal to any
of these factors made in furtherance of the candidature of
any candidate as therein prescribed would constitute a
corrupt practice and would render the election of the said
candidate void.
In considering the question as to whether the distribution
of the impugned poster by the appellant constitutes corrupt
practice under s. 123(3), there is one point which has to be
borne in mind. The appellant had been adopted as its can-
didate by the Akali Dal Party. This Party is recognised as
a political party by the Election Commission notwithstanding
the fact that all of its members are only Sikhs. It is
well-known that there are several parties in this country
which subscribe to different political and economic
ideologies, but the membership of them is either confined
to, or predominantly held by, members of particular
communities or religions. So long a,; law does not prohibit
the formation of such parties and in fact recognises them
for the purpose of election and parliamentary life, it would
be necessary to remember that an appeal made by candidates
of such parties for votes may, if successful, lead to their
election and in an indirect way, may conceivably be
influenced by considerations of religion, race, caste,
community or language. This infirmity cannot perhaps be
avoided so long as parties are allowed to function and are
recognised, though their composition may be predominantly
based on membership of particular communities or religion.
That is why we think, in considering the question as to
whether a particular appeal made by a candidate falls within
the mischief of s. 123(3), courts should not be astute to
read into the words used in the appeal anything more than
can be attributed to them on its fair and reasonable
,construction.
795
That takes us to the question of construing the impugned
poster. The principles which have to be applied in constru-
ing such a document are well-settled. The document must be
read as a whole and its purport and effect determined in a
fair, objective and reasonable manner. In reading such
documents, it would be unrealistic to ignore the fact that
when election meetings are held and appeals are made by
candidates of opposing political parties, the atmosphere is
usualy surcharged with partisan feelings and emotions and
the use of hyperboles or exaggerated language, or the
adoption of metaphors. and the extravagance of expression in
attacking one another, are all a, part of the game, and so,
when the question about the effect of speeches delivered or
pamphlets distributed at election meetings is argued in the
cold atmosphere of a judicial chamber, some allowance must
be made and the impugned speeches or pamphlets must be
construed in that light. In doing so, however, it would be
unreasonable to ignore the question as to what the effect of
the said speech or pamphlet would be on the mind of the
ordinary voter who attends such meetings and reads the
pamphlets or hears the speeches. It is in the light of
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these well-established principles that we must now turn to
the impugned pamphlet.
Ext. p. 10 has been translated by the High Court. The
correctness of this translation is not challenged by either
party before us. It reads thus: -
"Dear resident Sikhs,
We, who are living in Singapore, Malaya, and
South East Asia, place this before you, most
respectfully, that at this critical juncture
it is your duty to keep high the honour of the
Panth. This is not the time to criticise the
weaknesses of the, leaders of the Panth; the
need is that in the coming General Elections
you should defeat the opponents of the Panth
the same way as you did in the last Gurdwara
Elections. Every Sikh vote should go to the
representatives of the Akali Dal. and we hope
that this prayer of ours from far off will be
accepted by you and you will once again pre-
serve the bonour of the Panth. Victory of the
Panth will maintain the honour of the Panth.
By maintaining such honour we will reach our
final goal, that is Punjabi Suba".
The poster then ends thus:-
"We remain anxious to, keep the honour and
prestige
of the Panth ever high
Yours,
Non-resident brothers"
796
The respondent’s contention before the Tribunal and the High
Court was that this appeal plainly and unambiguously invites
the voters to vote for the appellant in order to preserve
the honour and prestige of the Panth and it was urged that
in the context, the Panth meant the Sikh religion. Since
the pamphlet clearly appeals to the voters to vote for the
appellant and proceeds on the assumption that the election
of the appellant would uphold the honour and prestige of the
Sikh religion, that amounts to a corrupt practice, because
the appeal is based on the ground of the appellant’s
religion. The courts below have accepted this contention.
The word ’Panth’ is one of Sanskrit origin and
etymologically it means the path or the way. It must be
conceded that by itself it has come to indicate the Sikh
religion because it has been used by Sikhs to denote their
religion and their denomination as the followers of that
Panth. In that context, Panth may mean the Sikh religion
and the followers of the Panth would be the persons who
follow the path prescribed by the Sikh-gurus and as such,
would signify the Sikh community. Panthic is an adjective
which means, of the Panth or belonging to the Panth, and so,
prima facie, the glory or prestige of the Panth may mean the
glory or prestige of the Sikh religion.
The question which calls for our decision, however, is not
what the word ’Panth’ in the abstract may mean in the
Punjab. The question which we have to answer is, what does
the word "Panth" mean in the context of the pamphlet the
distribution of which is alleged to constitute corrupt
practice? It would be noticed that the word "Panth" occurs
in six places in this pamphlet. First, reference is made to
the honour of the Panth, then it is said that it is not the
time to criticise the leaders of the Panth. In both these
places, the word "Panth" may conceivably mean the Sikh
religion. But when we go +to the use of the word "Panth" in
the next sentence, it becomes clear that the said word
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cannot possibly mean the Sikh religion. The relevant
portion of the pamphlet says to the electors: you should
defeat the opponents of the Panth the same way as you did in
the last Gurdwara Elections. It is common ground that the
Gurdwara Elections were fought between different parties of
the Sikhs and the Akali Dal party triumphed at the said
Elections. Therefore, there is no doubt whatever that in
this sentence, the Panth cannot possibly mean the Sikh
religion. The expression "the opponents of the Panth"
obviously means the opponents of the Akali Dal party and
what the pamphlet purports to tell the electors is, just as
at the last Gurdwara Elections the Akali Dal Party succeeded
over its opponents, so should the Akali Dal Party triumph in
the election in question. The next sentence makes it still
clearer that the Panth and the Akali Dal Party are treated
as
797
synonymous in this portion because it says "every Sikh vote
should go to the representatives of the Akali Dal", and that
can be reconciled with the previous sentence only on the
basis that in the minds of those who drafted the impugned
poster, the Akali Dal Party and the Panth are the same.
Then the poster says that the prayer made in the poster, if
accepted, will once again preserve the honour of the Panth;
the words "once again" take us back to the triumph which the
Akali Dal Party achieved at the last Gurdwara Elections, and
so, the Panth in this context must mean the Akali Dal Party;
and in the end when the pamphlet refers to the victory of
the Panth and the honour of the Panth, it must be taken to
refer to the victory and honour of the Akali Dal Party. The
last sentence is very significant. It says that by
maintaining such honour, meaning the honour of the Panth
which is the Akali Dal, we will reach our final goal, that
is, the Punjabi Suba. It is not disputed that at these
elections, the Akali Dal Party propagated for the creation
of the Punjabi Suba and the crux of the appeal made by the
impugned poster is that if the voters returned the Akali Dal
candidate, the honour and prestige of the Akali Dal would be
maintained and the ideal of the Punjabi Suba attained. In
the end, the poster also says that those who issued it were
anxious to keep the honour and prestige of the Panth ever
high.
We have carefully considered the view taken by the Punjab
High Court and the Tribunal, but we are satisfied that the
said view is inconsistent with a fair and reasonable
construction of the impugned poster. In fact, the High
Court does not appear to have considered the different
places in the poster where the word "Panth" has been used
and no attempt has been made to co-relate these sentences
and to enquire whether the meaning attributed by the High
Court to the word "Panth" is justified in regard to all the
sentences in which that word occurs. It is an elementary
rule of construction that the same word cannot have two
different meanings in the same document. unless the context
compels the adoption of such a course. Afterall, the
impugned poster was issued in furtherance of the appellant’s
candidature at an election, and the plain object which it
has placed before the voters is that the Punjabi Suba can be
achieved if the appellant is elected; and that necessarily
means that the appellant belongs to the Akali Dal Party and
the Akali Dal Party is the strong supporter of the Punjabi
Suba. In these proceedings, we are not concerned to
consider the propriety, the reasonableness or the
desirability of the claim for Punjabi Suba. That is a
political issue and it is perfectly competent to political
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parties to hold bona fide divergent and conflicting views on
such a political issue. The significance of the reference
to the Punjabi Suba in the impugned
798
poster arises from the fact that it gives a clue to the
mean. ing which the poster intended to assign to the word
"Panth". Therefore, we are satisfied that the word "Panth"
in this poster does not mean Sikh religion, and so, it would
not be possible to accept the view that by distributing this
poster, the appellant appealed to his voters to vote for him
because of his religion.
In this connection, it may be relevant to refer to the oral
evidence led in this case. Kartar Singh has stated that
since the last 30 years the other name of the Akali Party is
Panthic Party. This witness had been actively helping the
appellant in his election, and he added that at the said
election, there was a common front of all the opposition
parties against the Congress. These parties were Jan Sangh,
Swatantra Party, Akali Party and others. Another witness
Ajmer Singh admitted that Shiromani Akali Dal was a
political party of the Sikhs. He also stated that excepting
1957 elections, for which there was settlement with the
Congress, the Akali Dal had been fighting in all the
elections. In 1957, the Akali candidates contested the
election on the Congress ticket. In 1958, the Akali Dal
started an agitation for getting Punjabi Suba because it
thought that the Regional Formula had not been property
implemented by the Government. This evidence would show
that the Akali Dal Party is also known as the Panthic Party
and that one of the major issues on which it fought the
Congress party at the election in question was the creation
of a separate province which it calls the Punjabi Suba. In
construing the impugned poster, the High Court does not
appear to have taken into account this oral evidence. It is
true that oral evidence would not be of any material
assistance in construing the words in pamphlet; but as we
have just indicated, the word "Panth" used in six places in
the pamphlet can be properly interpreted only to mean the
Akali Dal Party and it is in that context that the
statements made by the witnesses as to the name by which the
Akali Dal Party is known in popular minds, may have some
relevance.
It appears that a similar question has been considered by
the Election Tribunals on two occasions in the past. In
Sardul Singh Caveeshar v. Hukam Singh and Ors.(1) the Elec"
tion Tribunal had to consider the denotation of the words
"Panth" and "Panthic" candidate and it has observed that
though the words "Panthic candidate" would literally signify
a candidate of the Sikh Community, after the Akali Dal Party
came to be known as the Panthic Party in the popular minds.
the word "Panthic" candidate came to signify a candidate of
the Akali Dal Party. It appears from this judgment that the
Akali Dal Party called itself the Panthic Party even at the
time when there were separate Sikh electorates, and that has
(1) (1953) VI E.L.R., 316 at 326.
799
a significance of its own. When there were separate Sikh
electorates, the candidates who fought against each other
would all be Sikh and yet, the Akali Dal Party which set up
its own ,candidates, described itself as a Panthic Party and
its candidates as Panthic candidates, (vide Baba Gurdit v.
Sardar Partap Singh Kairon)(1). These decisions tend to
show that the Akali Dal Party is known as Panthic Party and
its candidates as Panthic candidates, and that incidentally
may be of some help to determine the true denotation of the
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word "Panth" used in the impugned poster in the present
case. Unfortunately, these decisions also do not appear to
have been placed before the High Court.
Before we part with this appeal, we may refer to a recent
decision of this Court in Jagdev Singh Sidhanti v. Pratap
Singh Daulta and Ors. (2). In that case, the election of
the successful candidate was challenged on the ground that
he had committed a corrupt practice under s.123(3) of the
Act in that he had appealed to the voters to vote for him on
the ground of his language, and the High Court had upheld
that contention. In reversing the conclusion of the High
Court, this Court pointed out that the reference to the
language on which the challenge to the successful
candidate’s election was based, had to be considered in the
context of the main controversy between the parties and that
controversy was that the Hariana Lok Samiti which had
sponsored the candidature of the successful candidate wanted
to resist the imposition of Punjabi in the Hariana region
and that was clearly a political issue. If in propagating
its views on such a political issue, a candidate introduces
an argument based on language, the context of the speech in
which the consideration of language has been introduced must
not be ignored, and that is how this Court held that the
corrupt practice alleged against the successful candidate
had not been established. Political issues which form the
subject-matter of controversi,es at election meetings may
indirectly and incidentally introduce considerations of
language or religion, but in deciding the question as to
whether corrupt practice has been committed under s.123(3),
care must be taken to consider the impugned speech or appeal
carefully and always in the light of the relevant political
controversy. We are, therefore, satisfied that the High
Court was in error in coming to the conclusion that the
impugned poster Ext. P-10 attracted the provisions of
s.123(3) of the Act.
The result is, the appeal is allowed, the decision of the
High Court is set aside and the election petition filed by
the respondent is dismissed with costs throughout.
Appeal allowed-.
(1)Indian Election Cases by Doabia Vol. 1, p. 92.
(2) A.I.R. 1963 S.C. 183.
800