Conduct of Election Rules, 1961

Basanagouda was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and was challenged by Dr. S. B. Amarkhed, the nearest unsuccessful candidate, who alleged booth‑capturing and rigging of votes. The High Court, relying on Order XI Rule 14 and Order XVI Rule 6 of the CPC, ordered the production of various election documents,…

In the 1996 Kerala Legislative Assembly election for the Mararikulam constituency, P.J. Francis was declared elected, defeating V.S. Achuthanandan by 1,965 votes. Achuthanandan filed an election petition alleging corrupt practices, improper reception of void votes, and violations of the Constitution and the Representat…

The appellant Regu Mahesh filed an election petition challenging the election of Rajendra Pratap Bhanj Dev from the Saluru (ST) constituency on the ground that the respondent did not belong to a Scheduled Tribe. The Andhra Pradesh High Court dismissed the petition, holding that it lacked proper verification, did not co…

In the 1982 Haryana Legislative Assembly election, Bhagmal was declared elected by a margin of ten votes over Parbhuram. Parbhuram filed an election petition alleging improper counting and the influence of a Naib Tehsildar on the Returning Officer, leading to a recount of rejected ballot papers. The High Court ordered …

During the 1999 Lok Sabha elections in Kerala, the Election Commission issued a notification under Rule 59A of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 directing that ballot papers from all ballot boxes in a constituency be mixed before counting to prevent intimidation and victimisation. Two writ petitions were filed in the…

The Calcutta High Court entertained a writ petition under Article 226 challenging the Chief Election Commissioner, the Chief Electoral Officer and the Election Commission of India for allegedly issuing vague and arbitrary directions for a de novo revision of West Bengal's electoral rolls and for proceeding with electio…

Ram Prasad Sarma, who lost the 1999 Lok Sabha election for Tezpur to Mani Kumar Subba, filed an election petition alleging booth‑capturing and rigging. The respondent moved to dismiss the petition under Section 86(1) on three grounds: the petition was filed beyond the 45‑day limitation, a candidate (Abu Khayer) was not…

The appellant, elected as MLA from Moirang constituency, was challenged by the respondent on the ground that the appellant had falsely declared an MBA degree in Form 26, constituting a false declaration of educational qualification. The High Court held the false declaration to be a substantial defect and declared the a…

In the 1980 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, the appellant Arun Kumar Bose was declared elected by a margin of 24 votes over respondent No.1, Mohd. Furkan Ansari. The respondent filed an election petition under s.81 of the Representation of the People Act, alleging that 74 ballot papers were wrongly rejected becaus…

The appellant, Sri T. Phunzathang, filed an election petition challenging the election of Sri Hangkhanilian on the ground of alleged corrupt practice under Section 123 of the Representation of People Act, 1951. The respondent contended that the copies of affidavits served on him lacked the Oath Commissioner’s endorseme…

In the 2002 Punjab Assembly election, Sukh Darshan Singh was declared elected over Sardar Harcharan Singh Brar by a narrow margin. Brar filed an election petition under the Representation of the People Act, 1951 alleging that a rival's nomination was improperly accepted and that Singh had committed the corrupt practice…

In the 1997 Dasuya Assembly election, the appellant Mahant Ram Prakash Dass lost to respondent Ramesh Chandra by 53 votes and sought a recount under Rule 63(2) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961. The Returning Officer rejected the application, and the High Court dismissed the election petition for lack of a prima f…

Mahendra Pal, a candidate of the Indian National Congress, challenged the election of R.D. Malanger, a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate, to the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha from the Kutlehar constituency. The petition alleged that 35,310 ballot papers were distributed but 35,318 were counted, resulting in eight excess…

The Supreme Court entertained a writ petition filed by People's Union for Civil Liberties and others challenging Rules 41(2), 41(3) and 49‑0 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, which required a presiding officer to record a remark and obtain the voter’s signature/thumb impression when the voter chose not to cast a …

In the 1980 Tamil Nadu Assembly election for the Ilayangudi constituency, the appellant was declared winner by a margin of 56 votes. The first respondent filed an election petition alleging that the Returning Officer had wrongly rejected ballot papers where the voter's mark was partially in the candidate's column and p…

The appellant, P.A. Mohammed Riyas, contested the 2009 Lok Sabha election from Kozhikode and filed an election petition alleging that the respondent, M.K. Raghavan, committed corrupt practice by publishing false statements, invoking Sections 81, 100, 101 and 123 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. The petiti…

Lok Prahari, a society, challenged the constitutional validity of Rule 39-AA of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 and the proviso to Section 33 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, alleging violations of Article 80(4), Article 14 of the Constitution and Section 123(2) of the Act. The petitioner argued that …

The Supreme Court dismissed Civil Appeal No.154 of 1999 filed by Jeet Mohinder Singh challenging the election of Harminder Singh Jassi. The Court held that the respondent's nomination paper was validly accepted because the required copy of the electoral roll was produced before scrutiny, and the returning officer was n…

In the Solan constituency election, the petitioner Mohinder Nath Sofat challenged the election of Krishna Mohini on two grounds: the alleged improper rejection of the nomination papers of Pritam Chand and Mohan Singh, who were alternate candidates of unrecognised parties, and the alleged illegal acceptance of Jagdish C…

The appellant, an unsuccessful candidate in a Rajya Sabha election conducted by single transferable vote, filed an election petition under section 81 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 seeking scrutiny and recount on the ground that several valid votes had been wrongly rejected and that the Returning Officer…

The Association for Democratic Reforms challenged the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with VVPAT, seeking a return to paper ballots, physical hand‑over of VVPAT slips to voters, and 100% VVPAT counting, alleging possible manipulation. The Supreme Court examined the technical architecture of EVMs, the safeguard…

Umesh Challiyil filed an election petition under the Representation of the People Act, 1951 alleging corrupt practices by the elected candidate K.P. Rajendran. The Kerala High Court dismissed the petition on preliminary objections, holding that the verification in the petition and the affirmation in the supporting affi…

In the Metropolitan Council election from the Narela constituency, Hari Ram was declared elected with 12,369 votes, defeating Hira Singh who secured 12,131 votes. Hira Singh filed an election petition and, at the interlocutory stage, sought an order directing the Returning Officer to produce the marked electoral rolls …

In the 1995 Puri Assembly election, both the appellant, Sri Uma Ballav Rath, and respondent No. 1 filed nomination papers as Janata Dal's official candidates. The Returning Officer, unable to determine the official candidate, treated both as independents and allotted different symbols. After a representation by Janata …

The petitioner filed a writ petition under Article 32 challenging the constitutional validity of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, arguing that the Order was legislative in nature and could not be issued by the Election Commission because it lacked statutory authority. The Court examined whe…

The appellant Kalyan Singh Chouhan, declared elected by a margin of one vote in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly election, challenged the High Court's order rejecting his application to summon all ten tendered votes, arguing that the entire set should be examined to prevent miscarriage of justice. The respondent C.P.…

Bidesh Singh filed an election petition challenging the election of Maohu Singh on the ground that 258 ballot papers were illegally rejected in Booth No. 35 and sought their inspection and scrutiny. The respondent filed an application under Sections 81, 83 and 86 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and Rule 9…

In the Kerala Legislative Assembly election for Kunnathunadu, respondent No.1 was declared elected by a margin of 60 votes. The appellant filed an election petition alleging double voting, impersonation, and that about 300 votes were cast using a wrong instrument for marking ballot papers, seeking a recount. The High C…

The appellant, a returned candidate to the Manipur Legislative Assembly, was challenged by the unsuccessful candidate who filed an election petition alleging corrupt practices, including non‑disclosure of a financial transaction. The appellant moved applications under Order 7 Rule 11 of the CPC and Section 86 of the Re…

The petitioners sought to strike down Rules 41(2) and 49‑0 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 and to direct the Election Commission to provide for negative voting and its secrecy in ballot papers and EVMs. The Court examined the constitutional status of the right to vote, the concept of negative voting, and the sco…

In the 2000 Haryana Legislative Assembly election, two candidates, Kamal Sharma and Bachan Singh, both claimed to be the official Congress candidate for the Safidon constituency. Both filed Form B with the Returning Officer; Bachan Singh’s Form B, submitted later, rescinded the earlier notice in favour of Kamal and was…

Govind Singh, a former Social Security Minister, resigned on 12 January 2002 and filed his nomination as an independent candidate on 23 January 2002. He was elected MLA from the Sherpur (SC) constituency on 13 February 2002. The defeated candidate, Harchand Kaur, filed an election petition alleging that Singh had indul…

Mahender Pratap, who lost a Legislative Assembly election by 161 votes, filed an election petition seeking a recount of votes on the ground of alleged irregularities in electronic voting machine counting and non‑compliance with Conduct of Election Rules 56A and 63. He claimed that his application for recount was filed …

In the 1985 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, Lata Devi (Mali) was declared elected from Chandan Kyari (SC) constituency. The defeated candidate, Haru Rajwar, filed an election petition alleging that the Returning Officer changed his allotted symbol from "bow and arrow" to "ladder" less than twenty days before polli…

In the 1999 Karur parliamentary election the returned candidate won by 2,847 votes. The defeated candidate filed an election petition alleging irregularities in the counting of about 15,000 rejected votes across five categories, but the petition disclosed only vague, general allegations without the required particulars…

The petition filed by Shailesh Manubhai Parmar, the Chief Whip of the INC in Gujarat, challenged the Election Commission's circulars that introduced the "None of the Above" (NOTA) option in Rajya Sabha (Council of States) elections. The Court examined whether NOTA, which was introduced for direct elections to Parliamen…

The appellant G. Puttaswamy was declared elected after a recount ordered by the Returning Officer, which the respondent H.D. Revanna challenged, alleging that the recount violated Rule 63 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 and that the appellant committed corrupt practices under Sections 100 and 123 of the Represen…

The appellant, a returned candidate, challenged the High Court's order that upheld an election petition filed by the respondent alleging corrupt practices. The petition claimed the appellant had constructed bore wells and provided ambulances after the election notification, allegedly exceeding the permissible election …

The petitioners challenged the election of Ajit Pawar to the Baramati Assembly seat, alleging that the Returning Officer shifted ballot boxes from a high school to a recreation hall without informing candidates, with the motive of substituting genuine ballot papers with fakes. They also claimed missing Presiding Office…

The appellant, a third wife of a deceased MLA from the Mishmi tribe, filed a nomination for a 2019 assembly election and marked ‘not applicable’ in Form‑26 for the spouse‑property column. The respondent challenged the nomination, alleging non‑disclosure of the deceased husband’s assets, which he claimed constituted a s…

The appellant, a defeated candidate, filed an election petition challenging the Rajya Sabha election of the respondent on alleged corrupt practices, including bribery, undue influence, and the appointment of party‑affiliated persons to state corporations. The petition was found to lack material facts, material particul…

In the biennial Rajya Sabha election from Jharkhand, MLA Amit Kumar Mahto cast his vote at 9:15 a.m. on 23 March 2018, but was convicted later that afternoon. The petitioner, Pradeep Kumar Sonthalia, challenged the validity of that vote, arguing that the conviction rendered Mahto disqualified under Article 191(1)(e) of…

In the Maharashtra Legislative Council election, Ashok lost to Rajendra by four votes and filed an election petition alleging that at least five of the fourteen votes counted were improperly received because voters were accompanied by another person, violating Rule 39 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961. The High Co…

The Supreme Court examined an election petition challenging the Lok Sabha election of Datta Raghobaji Meghe on allegations that he exceeded the permissible election‑expenditure limit and committed corrupt practices. The Court reiterated that the right to elect and be elected is a statutory right governed strictly by th…

The petitioners, including Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam, challenged the constitutional validity of the 2000 amendment to the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, which required a political party to secure at least 6% of the state's valid votes and win at least two legislative seats to be recogn…

In the 2006 Assam Legislative Assembly election, polling station No.124 was initially set up at a non‑notified school and later shifted to the notified venue. The defeated candidate, Kalyan Kumar Gogoi, alleged that this change caused chaos, preventing 200‑300 voters from casting their votes and materially affected the…

The appellant, an elector from Patiala Town, filed an election petition under Section 81 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, alleging that the respondent, Amarinder Singh, committed corrupt practices by using a Class‑I gazetted officer and a police superintendent to further his election campaign. The Punjab …

The Supreme Court examined eleven writ petitions and three special leave petitions filed by registered unrecognised political parties seeking a common election symbol for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. The parties challenged several provisions of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968…

The appellant's nomination paper for the Maharashtra Legislative Council election was rejected by the Returning Officer on the ground that two proposers' signatures were forged. The appellant challenged the rejection in an election petition, alleging that the Returning Officer had erred in his decision‑making process, …

The appellant, T.M. Jacob, was elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly and faced an election petition filed by C. Poulose alleging corrupt practices. The petition included an affidavit in Form 25, but the copy of the affidavit served on Jacob omitted the notary’s name, address, stamp and seal, though it bore the end…

The case concerned an election petition filed by Sharadendu Tiwari challenging the election of Ajay Arjun Singh. The dispute centered on whether the petition was accompanied by an affidavit in the statutory Form 25 as required by the proviso to Section 83(1)(c) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and whether…

In a 2019 Lok Sabha election for the Hassan constituency, the appellant A. Manju, who finished second, filed an election petition under Section 81 of the Representation of People Act, 1951 alleging that the elected candidate, Prajwal Revanna, had committed corrupt practices by filing a false affidavit and concealing ma…

The appellant, M.R. Gopalakrishnan, contested the election of Thachady Prabhakaran to the Kerala Legislative Assembly, alleging that the counting of votes was irregular due to a cramped hall, that postal ballots were improperly rejected, that double voting and impersonation occurred, and that the respondent committed c…

The appellant, a Member of the Manipur Legislative Assembly, was elected from the Saikul constituency in 2022. The respondent filed an election petition alleging that the appellant concealed assets worth about Rs. 2 crore and falsified her income, thereby committing corrupt practices. The appellant moved an application…

In the 2000 Bihar Assembly election for Sitamarhi, petitioner Hari Shankar Prasad lost to Shahid Ali Khan by 35 votes. The Returning Officer rejected 90 ballot papers marked with a distinguishing‑mark stamp, deeming them invalid, despite a directive from the Election Commission that such ballots should be counted if th…

The election petition filed by Sat Pal challenged the election of the appellant to the Haryana Legislative Assembly on the ground that the nomination paper of another candidate, Dog Ram, had been improperly rejected by the Returning Officer due to clerical errors in the part numbers of the electoral roll. The Single Ju…

Harjit Singh Mann challenged the election of S. Umrao Singh on three grounds: the alleged late filing of his nomination paper, failure to make the required oath, and alleged bribery by the respondent. The Supreme Court held that the nomination paper was filed after the statutory deadline of 3 p.m., a mandatory defect u…

C.P. John, a losing candidate, filed an election petition challenging the election of Babu M. Palissery on grounds of bribery, false pamphlet distribution and alleged suppression of criminal convictions. The High Court dismissed the petition, holding it lacked material facts and was non‑compliant with Section 83 of the…

M.L. Agarwal challenged the 1981 Lok Sabha election of Rajiv Gandhi alleging various corrupt practices. The High Court struck out the petition as vague, frivolous and lacking a cause of action under Order VI Rule 16 and rejected it under Order VII Rule 11. Agarwal appealed, contending that the court had no jurisdiction…

The appellant, A. Neelalohithadasan Nadar, was declared elected from the Kovalam Assembly seat, but the first respondent, George Mascrene, filed an election petition alleging double voting and void votes under Section 62(4) of the Representation of People Act, 1951. The Kerala High Court inspected ballot papers and ele…

The appellant, Janak Singh, contested the election of Ram Das Rai to the State Assembly, alleging miscounting of ballot papers, failure to grant a recount under Rule 63 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, and various irregularities in the counting process. The High Court found that the petitioner could not demonstr…

In the 2005 Gharaunda Assembly election, Rekha Rana was declared winner by a margin of 21 votes. Jaipal Sharma filed an election petition alleging that the victory was secured through a large number of void votes cast by impersonation, double voting, and votes by deceased or incarcerated persons. During evidence, Sharm…

In the 1989 Mizoram Assembly elections, fifteen unsuccessful MNF candidates filed election petitions alleging corrupt practices by the elected Congress(I) candidates. The High Court rejected preliminary objections, allowed certain amendments, and struck out vague paragraphs, prompting the returned candidates to appeal …

In a municipal council election with 424 voters, the quota for election was 213 votes. No candidate reached the quota, leading to successive rounds of elimination under the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961. The appellant, G.N.R. Dudhagaonkar, contended that 71 ballot papers, which were declared exhausted because they co…

Kameng Dolo was elected unopposed to the Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly after the other candidate, Atum Welly, allegedly withdrew his candidature. The High Court held that the withdrawal notice did not comply with the requirements of Section 37 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and declared Dolo's e…

The Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by independent candidate Raghbir Singh Gill challenging the setting aside of his election to the Council of States on grounds of tampered postal ballot papers. The High Court had found that four postal ballots, originally cast for Akali candidate Gurcharan Singh Tohra, were altered…

In the 2019 Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, independent candidate Karikho Kri was elected from Tezu (ST) constituency. Nuney Tayang challenged the election, alleging that Kri failed to disclose three vehicles, a no‑dues certificate for government accommodation, and municipal/property tax liabilities, t…

Sathi Vijay Kumar, a losing candidate in the 2002 Punjab Assembly election, filed an election petition alleging that the returned candidate, Tota Singh, had committed corrupt practices, including the wrongful deletion of 586 voters' names and the assistance of a gazetted officer. The High Court dismissed several paragr…

Dr. Subramanian Swamy filed a writ petition under Article 32 seeking a mandamus directing the Election Commission of India (ECI) to incorporate a voter‑verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) in electronic voting machines (EVMs) to allow voters to confirm their votes. The High Court dismissed the petition, prompting an ap…

In a 1983 by‑election for the Fatehabad Assembly constituency, Lila Krishan was declared elected, but two rival candidates, Mani Ram Chapola and Raj Tilak, had their nomination papers rejected because the serial numbers of their proposers were shown as 126 and 177 instead of the correct 26 and 77. The Punjab & Haryana …

The petition challenged the constitutional validity of Explanation 1 to Section 77(1) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which exempts expenditures incurred by political parties or other persons (other than the candidate or his agent) from being counted towards the candidate's election‑expense ceiling. The …

The appellant, Karim Uddin Barbhuiya, contested the dismissal of his application under Order VII Rule 11 CPC seeking rejection of an election petition filed by Aminul Haque Laskar alleging false statements in the appellant's nomination affidavit and improper acceptance of his nomination. The Supreme Court examined whet…

The case concerned an election petition challenging the 2009 Lok Sabha election of G.M. Siddeshwar, wherein the petitioner Prasanna Kumar alleged corrupt practices. The petitioner filed an affidavit in the form prescribed by Rule 94‑A (Form No.25) but the affidavit was not in exact format and the verification was defec…

In the 1977 Tamil Nadu Assembly election for the Taramangalam constituency, R. Narayanan was declared elected by a narrow margin of about 19 votes. S. Semmalai filed an election petition under the Representation of the People Act, 1951 alleging counting irregularities and seeking a recount and declaration of his own el…

The appellant, a returned candidate, appealed a High Court order that refused to dismiss an election petition filed by the respondent alleging irregularities in vote counting. The Supreme Court examined whether the petition disclosed a cause of action and could be struck out at the threshold, and whether the lack of an…

The appellant, K.K. Ramachandran Master, filed an election petition under the Representation of the People Act, 1951 challenging the election of M.V. Sreyam Kumar on grounds of corrupt practices alleged under Sections 123(4), 123(5) and 123(6). The High Court dismissed the petition, holding that it failed to disclose m…

The Supreme Court considered three appeals challenging orders of the Election Commission that disqualified elected candidates under Section 1OA of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 for allegedly failing to lodge true and correct accounts of election expenses. The Court examined the statutory scheme, the Conduc…

In the 2004 Musheerabad Assembly election, the appellant N. Narasimha Reddy lost by 240 votes and the respondent Dr. K. Laxman filed an election petition challenging the result. The petition sought summons of several voters as witnesses, alleging that their testimony was essential to prove that the appellant could not …

The appellant was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly by a margin of 138 votes. The defeated candidate filed an election petition under Section 81 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, alleging that the counting supervisors failed to fill the required check memos, that ballot papers were improperly r…

A.C. Jose, a losing candidate in a Kerala Legislative Assembly election, challenged the election of Sivan Pillai on the ground that votes cast by electronic voting machines in 50 of 85 polling stations were illegal. The Election Commission had issued a notification permitting the use of machines, but the Representation…

The appeal concerned the election of Krishnamoorthy as President of Thekampatti Panchayat, where he had filed a nomination affidavit disclosing only one pending criminal case while suppressing eight other embezzlement cases. The High Court had declared his election void on the ground of corrupt practice, holding that t…

Fulena Singh filed an election petition challenging the election of Vijay Kumar Sinha on the ground of double voting and multiple enrolments. To substantiate his claim, Singh applied under Rule 93(1)(dd) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 for inspection of voter registers in Form 17A. The trial court allowed the ap…

The appellant, S. Baldev Singh Mann, filed an election petition challenging the 1992 Punjab Legislative Assembly election of S. Gurcharan Singh (respondent No.1) on grounds of booth capturing and overspending. He alleged that the respondent and his agents threatened the appellant's polling agent and exceeded the permis…

The Supreme Court examined an election petition filed under Section 100(1)(d)(iv) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which alleged that the returned candidate, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, had suppressed her spouse's PAN and income‑tax details in Form 26. The Court held that the petition contained only vague, bal…

The appellant, a returned candidate, challenged an election petition filed by the respondent alleging corrupt practices under Sections 123 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. The High Court, despite noting deficiencies in the petition, directed the respondent to amend the pleadings and verify them, rather th…

The Supreme Court examined whether the Election Commission could be directed to require candidates to disclose criminal cases, assets, liabilities and educational qualifications, as ordered by the Delhi High Court, despite the absence of a specific provision in the Representation of the People Act, 1951 or the Conduct …

In the 25‑Champua Assembly constituency, an independent candidate died after the withdrawal deadline but before polling, yet his name remained on the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and he received 550 votes. The election petitioner alleged that, had the deceased candidate’s name been masked, those votes would have gon…

The appellant, Markio Tado, was elected to the Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly and the respondent, Takam Sorang, filed an election petition alleging booth capturing. During the trial the respondent sought, via two interlocutory applications, production of voters' counterfoils (Form 17A) from 38 polling stations …

The Supreme Court examined two civil appeals arising from an election petition that sought to void the election of L.R. Shivaramagowda on grounds of alleged corrupt practices under the Representation of the People Act, 1951. The petition alleged that the returned candidate had failed to file true and correct accounts o…

In the 1995 Vidhan Sabha election for the Lakhisarai constituency, respondent No.1 was declared elected. The appellant, Ashwini Kumar Sharma, filed an election petition under Section 100(1)(d)(iii) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, alleging irregularities and illegalities in the counting of votes, includin…

Satish Ukey filed a criminal complaint under Section 125-A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 alleging that MLA Devendra Fadnavis concealed two criminal cases in his Form‑26 affidavit, where cognizance had been taken by the courts. The trial court dismissed the complaint, a Sessions Court remanded it for fre…

In a 1986 Rajya Sabha election by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, the appellant, Era Sezhiyan, lost and challenged the rejection of one ballot paper marked with green ink (a pen different from the blue‑ink pen supplied in the booth) and the acceptance of three ballots where the figure ‘1’ was placed in the wrong c…