Content Provider | Supreme Court of India |
---|---|
e-ISSN | 30484839 |
Language | English |
Access Restriction | NDLI |
Subject Keyword | Election Laws |
Content Type | Text |
Resource Type | Law Judgement |
Jurisdiction | India |
Case Type | Appeal |
Court | Supreme Court of India |
Disposal Nature | Appeal Dismissed |
Headnote | Election Laws : Representation of the people Act, 1951-Sections 116A, 100(1)(b), 123(3) & (3A),-Petition for setting aside the election on account of corrupt practices-Use of religion for soliciting votes by successful candidate and his agent-Appeal to vote or refrain from voting prohibited. 'Hindutva' Meaning of-Indicates way of life of Indian people-Not to be confined to describing people practicing Hindu religion. Corrupt practice-All references to 'Hindutva' or 'Hinduisim; in speeches need not be corrupt practice-Speech to preserve own language, religion, culture etc. not forbidden by the Act-The type of reference and meaning sought to be conveyed in the speech to be considered before arriving at the decision. Positive appeal-Appeal made on ground of candidates' religion. Negative Appeal-Appeal to refrain from voting on ground of other candidates' religion.Both positive and negative appeals prohibited under the Act-Inference that may lead to the conclusion of the existence of such appeals is sufficient-The manner in which common man understands the speech to be kept view. The election of the Appellant, who was returned successful from Vile Parle constituency to the Maharashtra Assembly in 1987, was challenged by the respondent under Section 116A of the R.P. Act, alleging corrupt practice under Ss.123(3) & (3A), of the R.P. Act. It was pleaded that both the Appellant as well as his agent Mr. Bal Thackery not only appealed for votes on the basis of the candidate's own religion but also promoted or tended to arouse ill feelings between the people of different communities and the election petitioner relied on certain speeches made during the election meetings. The High Court came to the finding that three public speeches of Mr. Thackery in the election meeting of the Appellant were appeals to vote for the Appellant in the name of his religion, and were also in the nature of arousing communal feelings. Thus the High Court upheld the charge of corrupt practice on the ground of S.100(1) (b) of the R.P. Act and set aside the election of the Appellant and also named Mr. Thackery in accordance with s.99 of the R.P. Act. Before this court the plea taken by the Appellants was, inter-alia, that s.123(3) & (3A) were constitutionally invalid and violative of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, since the freedom of speech guaranteed in the said Article is absolute, the words 'decency' and 'morality' refer to sexual morality only, to get the protection of Article 19(2), the provisions of s.123(3) & (3A) have to be read as reasonable restriction, only a direct appeal on the ground of the candidate's religion which also has a tendency to affect public order will fall within the purview of Section 123(3) & (3A), inter-alia because the object of introducing the term 'his' in the substituted sub-Section (3) is only to restrict the scope to cases of direct appeal on the basis of the candidate's religion, a speech where religion is referred to but does not directly appeal to voters on the ground of religion is not hit by s.123(3) or (3A), that the speeches to 'Hindutva', which is a reference to Indian culture and not only to Hindu religion, the speeches were a criticism of the Congress party's attitude which was to favour the minorities against the Hindus. On behalf of Mr. Thackery, it was submitted that there was non-compliance with the requirements of s.99 since he was not informed of the precise charges against him nor he was supplied with the particulars. In general it was also pleaded that the election petition was lacking in material particulars and the particulars which were brought in at the stage of evidence were to be excluded, that the High Court has arrived at the decision based on mere impressions and had not Limited its enquiry to the legally admissible evidence. On behalf of the Respondent it was pointed out that the question of constitutional validity of s.123(3) & (3A) is already settled by Jamuna Prasad Mukhariya And Others v. Lachhi Ram And Others, [1955) 1 SCR 608. It was also pointed out that freedom of speech does not include the type of speeches given by Mr. Thackery at the election meetings, that both the substance and the main thrust of the speeches are to be examined to arrive at the conclusion whether there was an appeal in the name of religion and the term 'Hindutva' used in an election speech refers to the 'Hindu' religion, that it was not necessary that the speech must be direct though it was conceded that the word 'his' has significance but should not be held to restrict the meaning of the section. In fact one of the speeches was an appeal to voters to vote for the candidate because he was a Hindu and it also tended to promote enemity between the communities and therefore corrupt practice. Dismissing the appeals |
Judge | Honble Mr. Justice J.S. Verma |
Neutral Citation | 1995 INSC 868 |
Petitioner | Dr. Ramesh Yeshwant Praboo |
Respondent | Shri Prabhaker Kashinath Kunte And Ors. |
SCR | [1995] Supp. (6) S.C.R. 371 |
Judgement Date | 1995-12-11 |
Case Number | 2836 |
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