Holding

The appellant committed a corrupt practice under Section 123(3) as the posters unambiguously appealed for votes on the basis of his religion and his involvement in the canvassing was proved.

Summary

K.M. Rao, a Telugu Desam Party candidate, was elected to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 1989. An election petition alleged that he committed a corrupt practice under Section 123(3) of the Representation of the People Act by using posters that depicted party leader N.T. Rama Rao as the Hindu deity Lord Krishna and urged voters to defeat the Congress party, thereby appealing for votes on the basis of religion. Evidence, including a photograph of the poster and witness testimony, showed that Rao himself arranged for the posters to be pasted on walls throughout the constituency on 17 November 1989. The High Court held that the posters constituted a religious appeal and that Rao was responsible for the canvassing, setting aside his election. On appeal under Section 116A, the Supreme Court affirmed the High Court’s finding, stating that the poster unambiguously appealed to voters on religious grounds and that Rao’s involvement was proved, and dismissed the appeal.

Issues considered

Whether the appellant committed a corrupt practice under Section 123(3) of the Representation of the People Act by canvassing through posters that appealed for votes on the ground of religion.
Whether the appellant can be held responsible for the canvassing carried out through the posters.

Legislation cited

Representation of the People Act, 1951s. 116A, s. 123(3)

Subjects

election lawcorrupt practicereligious appealSection 123(3)Section 116ARepresentation of the People ActposterscanvassingAndhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly

Judgment

KALAMATA MOHAN RAO A
v.
NARAYANA RAO DHARMANA AND ORS.

NOVEMBER 9, 1995
B
.. [J.S. VERMA AND K.S. PARIPOORNAN, JJ.)

Election Law

Representation of the People Act, 1951:

S.123(3)-Corrnpt practices-State Legislative Assembly Elec-
c
tions-Canvassing through posters-Retumed candidate having displayed
posters depicting his p01ty Supremo in role of God worshipped by people of
his religion as an incamation making clmion call to voters to defeat the 1ival
party-Held, contents of posters amount to an appeal for votes on ground of
' religion of the candidate-Election set aside. D
The election of the appellant to Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assemb-
ly was challenged before the High Court in an election petition on the
ground of corrupt practice under s.123(3) of the Respresentation of the
People Act, 1951. It was alleged that the appellant, who was the candidate E
of Telugu Desam Party, made appeal for votes on the ground of his
religion. On 17.11.1989 he was said to have got pasted posters at various
places in the relevant constituency depicting the party leader N.T. Rama
Rao in the role of Lord Krishna worshipped by the Hindus as an incarna-
tion, blowing a conch shell and making clarion call to the voters to defeat
deceitful Congress Party which had sold away the nation. The High Court F
allowed the petition and set aside the election of the appellant. Aggrieved,
the appellant filed the appeal under s.116A of the Act.

Dismissing the appeal, this Court

HELD : 1. The contents of the poster pleaded in the election petition, G
as are evident from the photograph Ex.A-7, unambiguously amount to an
appeal for votes on the ground of the religion of the candidate of the
· Telugu Desam Party, the appellant. The clear meaning of its contents is
that N.T. Rama Rao is an incarnation of God worshipped by the Hindus
who is seeking votes for his candidate, the appellant who is a Hindu, at H
5
6 SUPREMECOURT REPORTS [1995] SUPP. 5 S.C.R.

A the election to conquer the evil in the form of the Congress Party; and for
the sake of Hindu religion to which the appellant belongs, the voters
should vote for the appellant, candidate of the Telugu Desam Party which
is led by incarnation of God worshipped by the Hindus. This is what the
poster clearly meant and this is how it was understood by the voters.
B Mullapudi Venkata Krishna Rao v. Vedula Suryanarayana, [1993]
Supp. 3 SCC 504, referred to. [8-D-E]
'
2. The Evidence of the witnesses examined in support of the election
petition indicates that the appellant himself got the posters pasted on the
C walls at different places in the constituency on 17.11.1989. The act of
canvassing through the medium of these posters has been attributed
directly to the appellant himself by the PWs whose testimony has been
rightly accepted by the High Court. There is nothing in their cross-
examination to disbelieve their version. Moreover, there is no evidence in
D rebuttal thereof, inasmuch as even the appellant did not enter the witness
box to deny the allegations made against him. The unrebutted evidence led ,,.
in support of the election petition is sufficient to prove that the act of
putting up these posters at different places in the constituency as alleged
has been duly proved. [8-F-H; 9-A]

E CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION Civil Appeal No. 13 of
1992.

From the Judgment and Order dated 18.12.91 of the Andhra Pradesh
High Court in E.P. No. 7 of 1990.
F P .P. Rao and Mrs. S. Rani Chhabra for the Appellant.

Y. Prabhakara Rao for the Respondents.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
G J.S. VERMA, J. This is an appeal under Section 116A of the Repre-
sentation of the People Act, 1951 (for short "the R.P. Act") by the returned
candidate against the judgment dated 18th December, 1991 by N.D .. Pat-
naik, J. of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh in Election Petition No. 7 of
1990, setting aside the election of the appellant to the Andhra Pradesh
H Legislative Assembly from No. 6 Pathapatnam Assembly Constituency held
K.M. RAO v. N.R. DHARMANA[J.S. VERMA,J.] 7

1 on 22.11.1989. The appellant was candidate of the Telugu Desam Party A
while respondent No. 1 Narayana Rao Dharmana was the Congress (I)
candidate at the election. The appellant polled 41,040 votes and was
declared elected against respondent No. 1 who obtained 40, 766 votes. The
election petition was filed on several grounds including the corrupt practice
under Section 123(3) of the R.P. Act of appealing for votes on the ground
B
of his religion. The High Court has recorded a finding that the appellant
is guilty of the corrupt practice under Section 123(3) and on that basis the
election of the appellant has been set aside. The other grounds on which
.. the election was challenged have not been held to be proved and, therefore,
reference to them is unnecessary at this stage.
c
The only question for decision in this appeal is the correctness of the
High Court's finding against the appellant for commission of the corrupt
practice under Section 123(3) of the R.P. Act. The relevant pleading of this
corrupt practice is contained in Para (xxvii) of the election petition. The
gist of the pleading is that the appellant on 17.11.1989 got pasted posters
D
on the walls at several places in the constituency which depicted the Telugu
Desam Party Supremo N.T. Rama Rao in the role of Lord Krishna wor-
shipped by the Hindus as an incarnation blowing a conch shell, a sloka
from Bhagwad Gita written at the top of the poster and below the
photograph of N.T. Rama Rao his clarion call to the voters to defeat the
deceitful Congress which had sold away the nation. The clear implication E
and the innuendo of the poster was also pleaded in para (xxvii) of the
election petition as under :

11
•••••••••• It is further respectfully submitted that the said poster

depicted the Telugu Desam Supreme as an Avtar or an incarnation F
of God who has appeared on the soil of Andhra Pradesh to destroy
the evil and save the people. The inscription on the poster as stated
above is from the Bhagavadgita. The clear and unambiguous im-
pression which is left on the reader of the poster is that the said
Supreme of Telugu Desam is an avtar of Lord Krishna. The bulk
of the electorate are made to believe that in voting for respondent G
No. 1 they would be voting for the Avtar of God who has come to

... destroy the evil and save the people and that if they vote against
him, they would be doing something agaist the wishes of God and
would be incurring the displeasure and wrath of God. Such posters
were pasted through out the constituency...... 11 H
8 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1995] SUPP. 5 S.C.R.

A A photograph Ex.A-7 of the above poster proved to have been taken
by the photographer Chowdary Vaikuntarao (PW-14) was produced as
evidence and the other witnesses examined were Narayana Rao Dharmana
(PW-l)(election petitioner), Miryabilli Ramagao Naidu (PW- 10), Mad~
dela Paparao (PW-11), Votti Mukhalingam (PW-12) and B. Raµiana (PW-
13). Another witness K. Veerabhadra Rao (PW-9) was disbelieved by the
B High Court and, therefore, we are excluding his testimony from considera-
tion. It is significant that no evidence was led in rebuttal by the appellant
who failed to examine even himself as a witness to deny the allegations
made against him. The High Court has accepted the evidence led by the
election petitioner and found the alleged corrupt practice under Section
c 123(3) of the R.P. Act proved against the appellant.

We have been taken through the evidence adduced in the present
case and find no reason to disagree with the High Court on the view it has
taken of the evidence. The contents of the poster pleaded in the election
D petition are evide.nt from the photograph Ex.A-7. The contents of that
poster unambiguously amount to an appeal on the ground of the religion
of the candidate of the Telugu Desam Party, the appellant. The clear
meaning of its contents is that N.T. Rama Rao is an incarnation of God·
worshipped by the Hindus who is seeking votes for his candidate, the
appellant, who is a Hindu at the election to conquer the evil in the form
E of the Congress Party; and for the sake of Hindu religion to which the
appellant belongs, the voters should vote for the appellant, candidate of
the Telugu Desam Party which is led by incarnation of God worshipped by
the Hindus. This is what the poster clearly meant and this is how it was
understood by the voters. The only question for consideration now is the
F responsibility of the appellant for the canvassing done by the medium of
these posters.

There is evidence led of the witnesses examined in support of the
election petition that the appellant himself got these posters pasted on the
G walls at different places in the constituency on 17.11.1989. The act of
· canvassing through the medium of these posters pasted on the walls at
different places in the constituency has been attributed directly to the
appellant himself by the PWs whose testimony has been rightly accepted
by the High Court. There is nothing in their cross-examination to disbelieve
their version. Moreover, there is no evidence in rebuttal thereof, insasmuch
H as even the appellant did not enter the withness box to deny the allegations
K.M. RAO v. N.R. DHARMANA (J.S. VERMA, J.] 9

made against him. The unrebutted evidence led in support of the election A
petition is sufficient to prove that the act of putting up these posters at
different places in the constituency as alleged has been duly proved. As
indicated earlier, the contents of the poster amount to an appeal by the
candidate (appellant) for votes on the ground of his religion. An identical
poster was similarly construed also in Mullapudi Venkata Krishna Rao v. B
Vedula Suryanarayana, [1993] Supp 3 SCC 504, even though in the facts of
that case the responsibility of the returned candidate could not be proved
by evidence and his denial of the allegation being accepted, the alleg~tion
of corrupt practice in that case was held to be factually not proved. The
position in the present case is different, inasmuch as the appellant's respon-
sibility has been held to be clearly proved. C
For the above reasons, no infirmity can be found in the impugned
judgment of the High Court. Consequently, the appeal fails and is dis-
missed with costs.

R.P. Appeal dismissed.