# I959 Stale of Ajnier v. Shivji Lal Wanchoo ]. I959 April 23

- **Citation:** [1959] Supp. 2 S.C.R. 748
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1958-11-25
- **Case number:** Civil Appeal No. 108 of 1959
- **Bench:** B. P. Sinha, J. L. Kapur, M. Hidayatullah
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/i959-stale-of-ajnier-v-shivji-lal-wanchoo-i959-april-23-1653
- **Pages:** 13

## Headnote

Election Petition-Allegation of corrupt practice-Mandate to
voters by religious leader-Undue influence-Representation of the
People Act, r95r (27 of r95r), s. r23(2), proviso (a)( ii).
This appeal was directed against concurrent orders of· the
Election Tribunal and the High Court on appeal, setting aside
the appellant's election to the Punjab Legislative Assembly· on
an election petition filed by the respondent No. r, on the ground
of corrupt practice of undue influence within the meaning of
proviso (a)(ii) to s. r23(1) of the Representation of the People
Act, r95r. A large number of voters of the constituency were
Namdhari Sikhs and the appellant, under the auth'ority of the
supreme religious leader of the Namdhari Sikhs and his son,
issued the following poster and distributed it widely throughout
the constituency,-
•
•
~2) S.C.R .. SUPREME COURT REPORTS
749
"A command from Shri Sat Guru Sacha Padshah to the
Namdharies of Halqa-Sirsa".
"Every Namdhari of this Halqa is commanded by
Shri Sat Guru that he should make every effort for the success
of Shri Ram Dayal Vaid, a candidate for the Punjab Vidhan
Sabha, by giving his own vote and those of his friends and
acquaintances, it being our primary_ duty to make him successful in the election. The election symbol of Shri Vaid is a riding
horseman.
Sd. Maharaj Bir Singh
S/o. Sat Guru Maharaj Pratap Singh,
Jiwan Nagar (Hissar)."
Both the Tribunal and the High Court found that the religious leader not only issued the said hukam or command, but
also delivered speeches to the effect that every Namdhari must
vote for the appellant implying that disobedrence of his mandate
would carry divine displeasure or spiritual censure and practically left no free choice to the Namdhari electors.
Held, that the case clearly fell within fhe purview of proviso (a)(ii) to s. 123(2) of the Representation of the People Act
and the appeal must be dismissed.
The law in England relating to undue influence at elections,
was not the same as the law in India. While the law in England
laid emphasis upon the individual aspect of the exercise of undue influence, under the Indian law what was material was not
the actual effect produced but the doing of such acts as were
calculated to interfere with the free exercise of an electoral
right.
.
North Durham's case, (1874) 2 O'M. & H. 152, referred to.
Decisions of the English Courts in this regard, therefore,
could not be used as precedents in India.

## Text

I959
Stale of Ajnier
v.
Shivji Lal
Wanchoo ].
I959
April 23.
748
SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1959] Supp.
been drawn under s. 4(1), assuming again that such a
presumption can be drawn where there is simple passing of money.
But when there is no indication whatever that any public servant was to be approached or
influenced by the accused there can, in our opinion, be
no question of making a presumption that the pay.
ment was as a motive or reward for rendering service
with any public servant. In this view of the matter
we are of opinion that the offence under s. 161 of the
Indian Penal Code is not made out against the accused,
for one of its essential ingredients is missing and no
presumption can be drawn in the circumstances in
that connect.ion.
We therefore dismiss the appeal
though for reasons different from those which commended themselves to the learned Judicial Commissioner.
Appeal dismissed.
RAM DIAL
v.
SANT LAL AND OTHERS
(B. P. SINHA, J. L. KAPUR and
M. HIDAYATULLAH, JJ.)
Election Petition-Allegation of corrupt practice-Mandate to
voters by religious leader-Undue influence-Representation of the
People Act, r95r (27 of r95r), s. r23(2), proviso (a)( ii).
This appeal was directed against concurrent orders of· the
Election Tribunal and the High Court on appeal, setting aside
the appellant's election to the Punjab Legislative Assembly· on
an election petition filed by the respondent No. r, on the ground
of corrupt practice of undue influence within the meaning of
proviso (a)(ii) to s. r23(1) of the Representation of the People
Act, r95r. A large number of voters of the constituency were
Namdhari Sikhs and the appellant, under the auth'ority of the
supreme religious leader of the Namdhari Sikhs and his son,
issued the following poster and distributed it widely throughout
the constituency,-
•
•
~2) S.C.R .. SUPREME COURT REPORTS
749
"A command from Shri Sat Guru Sacha Padshah to the
Namdharies of Halqa-Sirsa".
"Every Namdhari of this Halqa is commanded by
Shri Sat Guru that he should make every effort for the success
of Shri Ram Dayal Vaid, a candidate for the Punjab Vidhan
Sabha, by giving his own vote and those of his friends and
acquaintances, it being our primary_ duty to make him successful in the election. The election symbol of Shri Vaid is a riding
horseman.
Sd. Maharaj Bir Singh
S/o. Sat Guru Maharaj Pratap Singh,
Jiwan Nagar (Hissar)."
Both the Tribunal and the High Court found that the religious leader not only issued the said hukam or command, but
also delivered speeches to the effect that every Namdhari must
vote for the appellant implying that disobedrence of his mandate
would carry divine displeasure or spiritual censure and practically left no free choice to the Namdhari electors.
Held, that the case clearly fell within fhe purview of proviso (a)(ii) to s. 123(2) of the Representation of the People Act
and the appeal must be dismissed.
The law in England relating to undue influence at elections,
was not the same as the law in India. While the law in England
laid emphasis upon the individual aspect of the exercise of undue influence, under the Indian law what was material was not
the actual effect produced but the doing of such acts as were
calculated to interfere with the free exercise of an electoral
right.
.
North Durham's case, (1874) 2 O'M. & H. 152, referred to.
Decisions of the English Courts in this regard, therefore,
could not be used as precedents in India.
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION:
Civil Appeal No.
108 of 1959.
Appeal from the judgment and order dated November 25, 1958, of the Punjab High Court in F.A.O. No.
173 of l!J58.
A. V. Viswanatha Sastri and Naunit Lal, for the
appellant.
M. 0. Setalvad, Attorney-General for India, V. A.
Syed M oharmnud and M. K. Ramamurthi, for respondent No. 1.
R.H. Dhebar, for respondent No. 3.
• 1959.
April 23.
The Judgment of the Court was
delivered by
I959
Ram Dial
v.
Sant Lal
cS- Others
I959
Jla1n Djal
v.
Sanl La.l
& Others
Sinha ].
•
750
SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1959] Supp ..
SINHA, J.-When the hearing of the appeal had
been concluded on March 18, 1959, we had informed
the parties, as also the counsel for the Election Commission of India, that the appeal is dismissed with
costs, and that the reasons would follow.
We now
proceed to give our reasons.
This is an appeal on a certificate of fitness granted
by the High Court of Judicature for the State of Punjab at Chandigarh, against the judgment and order
dated November 25, 1958, of that Court, dismissing an
appeal against the /order of the Election Tribunal,
Hissar, dated September 14, 1958, setting aside the
appellant's election to the Punjab Legislative Assembly. The appellant was the successful candidate from
the general seat which was a doubl,e-member constituency of Sirsa, the.other successful candidate being a
Harijan candidate-respondent No. 2 in this Court.
The first respondent contested the general seat. The
Election Commission of India was added as the third
respondent by an order of this Court, dated February
27, 1959, when this Court was moved in the stay matter. This Court directed the case itself to . be heard
before the date fixed for the fresh election as a result
of the order of the. Election Tribunal.
It appears that for the double-member constituency
of Sirsa, there were a large number' of candidates. One
of the two seats was reserved for members of the
scheduled castes. After the usual withdrawals, sixteen candidates were left in the field to contest the
two seats, eight candidates being for the general seat,
and the other eight, for the reserved seat.
We are
not here concerned with the seat reserved for members
of the scheduled castes. In respect of the general
constituency, the appellant secured 27,272 votes,
whereas the first. respondent secured 23,329, as a result
of the election which took place on March 12 and 14,
1957. The result of the election was declared on
March 17, 1957.
The first respondent filed an election petition on
April 28, 1957, challenging the election of the appellant. The election was challenged on a large number
uf grounds-practically exhausting
all
available
•
(2) S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
751
grounds under the election law-but as a result of the
findings of the Election Tribunal and of the High
Court, we are only concerned with the allegations
relating to "corrupt practices'', contained in subparas. 1 to 3 of para. 13B of the election petition,
which formed the basis for issue No. 4.
The· relevant
allegations may be stated in extenso in the words of
the election petition, as under :-
" (B) : That respondent No. 1 himself, his agents
and other persons with the consent of the respondent
No. 1 and his agents have committed the corrupt
practice of undue influence by interfering directly or
indirectly with the free exercise of the electoral right
of the electors of this constituency. 'rhe known
details of these corrupt practices are given in the various clauses under the sub-para.:-
(i) Sat Guru Maharaj Pratap Singh of Jiwan
N agar, the religious head of N amdharis sect of the
Sikhs had some personal grievances against Shri Devi
Lal of Chautala a prominent Congress Leader of tho
constituency, and the chief supporter of the petitioner
at this election.
Respondent No. 1 folly knowing of
this grievance of the Sat Guru approached him and
through him also approached Maharaj Charan Singh
of Sikanderpur the religious head of the Radha Swami
Samaj and got issued Farmans (orders) by both these
religious heads to their followers in this constituency to
the effect that their Dharma required them to wholeheartedly support respondent No. 1 and to oppose the
candidature of the petitioner and that if any of the
followers dared to act against their ]'armans, the wrath
of the· aforementioned Gurus would fall upon him and
he would be the object of Divine displeasure.
These
Farmans of the two Gurus were orally conveyed,
through the' Su bas' of Namdharis, Shri Bir Singh the
son of Sat Guru Partap Singh and N aginder Singh
and Shri Purshotam Singh followers of Guru Charan
Singh, throughout the Constituency wherever the followers of these two sects resided from the day of withdrawal till the polling began, during their canvassing
tours for respondent No. l,_Shri Bir Singh, Purshotam
Singh and Naginder Singh aforesaid and Sant Teja
r959
·Ram Dial
v.
Sant Lal
& Others
Sinha J.
I959
Ra1n Dial
v.
Sant Lal
& Others
Sinha ].
752
SUPREME COURT REPORTS tJ959] Supp.
Singh JVI.L.C. in Diwans held in the various villages
and towns of the Constituen-0y during their canvassing
tour, besides repeating these 'Farmans' of the two
Gurus also threatened the followers with expulsion
from the sect and Samaj if they went against the wish
of the Gurus in this matter.
(ii) That Sat Guru Pratap Singh himself in the
presence of respondent No. 1 in the Big-Diwan of his
followers held on the 25th of February, 1957, at Sirsa
in Radha Swami Sat-Sangh Hall, preached and commended all those present that it was the primary
Dharma of all his followers to help the candidature of
respondent No. 1 and to oppose the petitioner with all
their might by giving their own votes and by canvassing among their area of influence in the constituency.
The Sat Guru himself held Diwans at villages Tharaj
on the 6th of March, 1957, at village Dhiwan on the
5th March, 1957, at village Rori on the 6th March,
1957, and" at Phaggu on the 6th March, 1957. In these
Di wans he besides repeating his Farmans aforesaid
also relied upon the strong appeal of his relationship,
he being the son of the daughter of village Tharaj. A
very big diwan of his followers also held at Khairpur
on the 26th February, 1957, for the same purpose
where the Sat Guru himself commended his followers
in the like tune.
(iii) That respondent No. 1 got issued posters in
thousands printed on both the sides in Hindi and
Gurumukhi scripts on the 26th of February, 1957,
containing_ the orders 'Farmans' of Satguru Partap
Singh under ~he signa,ture of Shri Maharaj Bir Singh
son of Satguru Partap Singh. These posters were got
published at the instance of respondent No. 1 at Bansal Press Hissaria Bazar, Sirsa. These posters contained in verbatim the orders 'Farmans' of the Satguru to
the effect that it was the primary Dharma of every
Namdhari of this constituency to give his own vote as
well as to canvass votes of their all acquaintances for
Shri Ram Dayal candidate respondent No. 1. A copy
of the poster in original together with its English translation is attached with the petition and may be read
as to form its part. These posters were distributed
(2) S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
753
throughout the constituency after the same were
got printed till the polling day in all the villages where
N amdhari reside."
In support of all his alilegations quoted above, the
first respondent adduced a large volume of oral evidence, besides some documentary evidence as well.
The Tribunal came to the conclusion that Maharaj
Pratap Singh had issued farmans to his satsanghis that
he, who will not vote for the appellant, would suffer
not only in this world but in the next also, but it
found it not proved that the f armans or orders of the
two religious heads of the Namdharis and Radhaswamis, were orally conveyed through Maharaj Bir
Singh, son of Maharaj Partap Singh, Naginder Singh
and Shri Parshotam Singh, to the followers of the two
Gurus in the constituency, or that they, while conveying the farmans of the Gurus, threatened the followers
with expulsion from the sect, if they went against
the wishes of the Gurus, except what Naginder Singh
had said in the Diwan at Sirsa and at other places.
It also recorded the finding that the Diwans were held
for the purpose of canvassing in favour of the appellant at the time and place mentioned in the petition,
.and that those Diwans were addressed by Maharaj
Pa.rtap Singh and others. It was also found that'
Maharaj Partap Singh actively supported the candidature of the appellant, and addressed his followers on
the basis of religion and asked them to vote for the
appellant, and that all this was done at the instance
and in the presence of the appellant. It was further
found that posters, like exh. P. 1, were issued by the
appellant under the authority of Maharaj~~Bir Singh
and his father, Maharaj Partap Singh, and widely
distributed throughout the constituency. The Tribunal also discussed the question as to whether, on those
findings, the provisions of s. 123(2) of the Representation of the People' Act, 1951 (which will hereinafter
be referred to as 'the Act J, relating to "undue
influence", could be said to have been satisfied; and
alternatively, whether those findings would bring the
case within the provisions of cl. (3) of s. 123 of the A0t,
95
I959
Ram Dial
v.
Sant Lal
b Others
Sinha ].
I959
Rani Diut
v.
Sant Lril
&
Other.~
754 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1959] Supp.
relating to systematic appeal on grounds of caste, race,
community or religion, etc.
The Tribunal appeared
to be inclined to the view that a command in terms of
exh. P. 1, emanating from a religious head, like the Sat
Guru, to his followers-mostly illiterate and ignorant
persons..,.-may well be construed as" undue influence" ..
But alternatively, it also held that even if the provisions of cl. (2) of s. 123 of the Act, had uot been satisfied, the case had been brought well within the
purview of cl. (3) of s. 123. Other issues were either
not pressed or were decided against the petitioner in
t.hat court. The Tribunal, therefore, declared the
appellant's election void under s. lOO(l)(b) of the Act..
In view of the fact that the petitioner had failed to
substantiate many of his allegations, the Tribunal
directed the parties to bear their own costs.
The appellant preferred an appeal which was heard
by a Division Bench (Falshaw and Dua, JJ.) of the
High Court of Judicature for the State of Punjab at
Chandigarh.
The High Court substantially affirmed
the findings of the Election Tribunal on issue No. 4
aforesaid.
The High Court also accepted the oral
evidence adduced on behalf of the respondent, with
particular reference to the publication and wide distribution of the poster, exh. P. I. In the course of its
judgment, the High Court observed:
"The language of the mandate and the general
background and circumstances of this case including
the obvious consciousness of Maharaj Pratap Singh
and Ram Dial of the probable and likely effect of such
commands on the illiterate, ignorant and credulous
followers of the Maharaj can lead but to one conclusion that it was intended to convey to them the threat
of divine displeasure and spiritual censure if they
dared to disobey the f arman of their supreme spiritual
and religious head."
In answer to the contention that the f arman had been
motivated not by religious considerations bnt by a
personal grievance, the High Court did not attach any
importance to the alleged differenc'!l in the motive, and
observed:
.
" If the influence exercised by the religious and
( 2) S.O.H. SUPREME COURT REPORTS
755
spiritual head has the effect of creating in the minds
of the voters a feeling of divine displeasure or spiritual
censure then whatever the motive, the influence \vould
amount to undue influence.
The contents of the poster reproduced earlier unequivocally establiRh the
mandatory nature of the command. Religious sanction is, in my opinion, implict in it and I think, on a
reasonable construction of its contents, it must be held
that Maharaj Pratap Singh intended to convey to his
followers who are mostly illiterate, igtiorant, credulous
and unsophisticated villagers, ha viug blind and implicit faith in their religious head that if they did ,not
vote for Ram Dial, they would incur. divine displeasure and spiritual censure.
With this class of
villagers the displeasure of the religious head is usually
associated with divine displeasure."
Dealing with the scope of s. 123(2), it held that the
language of the poster, exh. P. 1, construed in the
light of the oral evidence, left the Court in no doubt
that Maharaj Partap Singh's Jarman did necessarily
imply divine displeasure and spiritual censure for
those who chose to disobey the Jarman.
In its view,
therefore, the facts, as found, attracted the provisions
of s. 123(2) of the Act. It also held that the evidence
led in the case, established that the meetings addressed
by Maharaj Partap Singh and others, in support of
the election of the appellant, induced the belief that
the voters would incur divine diRplcasurc or spiritual
censure if they did not vote ip accordance with the
mitndate issued by the Maharaj; thus, clearly establishing the commission of corrupt practice of "undue
influence ". The High Court also examined the question whether the corrupt practice falling under cl. (3)
of s. 123 of the Act, had been established, and decided
the question in the negative, though not without some
hesitation. It further held that the publication of the
poster, exh. P. 2, did not bring the case within the
purview of s. 123(4) of the Act. In the result, the
High Court agreed with the conclusion of the Tribunal, declaring the election void, and dismissed the
appeal with costs.
The appellant applied to the High
Court, praying for the necessary certificate that the
I959
Ra,m lJial
v.
Sant Lal
& Others
Sinh~ } .
r959
Ram Dial
v.
Sant Lal
& Others
Sinha J.
756
SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1959] Supp.
case was a fit one for appeal to this Court, and that
Court granted the certificate. Hence, this appeal.
After the decision of the Tribunal and of the High
Court, the only question for determination in this
appeal, is whether, on the findings of fact recorded, as
stated above, the corrupt practice of" undue influence", as defined ins. 123(2), has been made out. It
has been argued on behalf of the appellant that the
main cl. (2) of s. 123, is out of the way of the parties in
this case, because it applies only to threats of injury to
person or property and not to what may be termed
"spiritual undue influence",· which is specifically
covered by sub-cl. (ii) of proviso (a) to cl. (2) of s. 123.
It was further argued that the word " deemed " would
show that the proviso is by way of an addition to the
main provision of cl. (2) of s. 123; that is to say, what
was not actually covered by the main cl. (2), has been
added to the ambit of the definition by the proviso. It
has further been argued that cl. (2) is directed against
unduly influencing individual voters, and reliance was
placed upon the cases of Cheltenham (1 ), Nottingham(')
and North Durham('). Reference was also made to
the observations in ".Rogers on Elections"('), and it
was argued that an electoral right, as defined in
s. 79(d) of the Act, is a personal individual right,
including the right to vote or to refrain from voting at
an election.
Hence, there should have been pleading
by the petitioner and finding by the Court on evidence
that certain named individuals had been subjected to
the corrupt practice of undue influence. Secondly, in
the absence of any such pleading or finding, a general
allegation of the corrupt practice of undue influence,
without :reference to individuals, is not enough in law
to vitiate an election.
The corrupt practice of undue influence has been
defined in cl. (2) of s. 123 of the Act, in these terms:-
" (2) Undue influence, that is to say, any direct
or indirect interference or attempt to interfere on the
part of the candidate or his agent, or of any other
(1) (1869) l O'M. & H. 62, 64.
(2) (1869) 1 O'M, & H. 245, 246.
(3) (1874) 2 O'M, & J-l, 152, 156.
(4) Vol,, II 20th Ed, p. 329.
(2) S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
757
person, with the consent of a candidate or his election
agent, with the free exercise of any electoral right :
Provided that-
(a) without prejudice to the generality of the
provisions of this clause any such person as is referred
to therein who-
(i) threatens any candidate, or any elector, or any
person in whom a candidate or an elector is interested,
with injury of any kind including social ostracism and
excommunication or expulsion from any caste or community; or
(ii) induces or attempts to induce a candidate or
an elector to believe that he, or any person in whom
he is interested, will become or will be rendered an
object of divine displeasure or spiritual censure,
shall be deemed to interfere with the free exercise of
the electoral right of such candidate or elector within
the meaning of this clause;
(b) a declaration of public policy, or a promise of
public action, or the mere exercise of a legal right
without intent to interfere with an electoral right,
shall not be deemed to be interference within the
meaning of this clause".
It should be observed, at the outset, that the law in
England, relating to undue influence at elections, is
not the same as the law in India, as will appear from
the following definition of" undue influence " contained in s. 2 of 46 & 4 7 Viet. c. 51, which substantially
re-enacted the former s. 5 of 17 & 18 Viet. c. 102 :-
"Every person who shall directly or indirectly, by
himself or by any other person on his behalf, make
use of or threaten to make use of any force, violence,
or restraint, or inflict or threaten to inflict, by himself
or by any other person, any temporal or spiritual
injury, damage, harm, or loss upon or against any
person in order to induce or compel such person to
vote or refrain from voting, or on account of such per.
son having voted or refrained from voting at any
election, or who shall by abduction, duress, or any
fraudulent device or contrivance, impede or prevent
the free exercise of the franchise of any elector, or
shall thereby compel, induce, or prevail upon any
1959
Ram Dial
v.
Sant Lal
& Others
Sinha ].
Ram Dial
v.
Sant Lal
6' Others
Sinha j,
758
SUPltEME COURT REPORTS [1959) Supp.
elector either to give or to refrain from giving his vote
at any election, shall be guilty of undue influence".
The words of the English sta.tute, quoted above, Jay
emphasis upon the individual aspect of the exercise of
undue influence. It was with reference to the words
of that statute, that Bramwell, B., made the following
observations in North Durham('):-
"When the language of the Act is examined it
will be found that intimidation to be within the statute
must be intimidation practised upon an individual ''.
The Indian law, on the other hand, does not empha-
•
sise the individual aspect of the exercise of such influence, but pays regard to the use of such influence as
has the tendency to bring about the result contemplated in the clause.
What is material under the
lndian law, is not the actual effect produced, but the
doing of such acts as are calculated to interfere with
the free exercise of any electoral right.
Decisions of
the English Courts, based on the words of the English
statute, which are not strictly in pari materia with the
words of the Indian statute, cannot, therefore, be used
as precedents in this country.
In the present case, we are not concerned with the
threat of temporal injury, damage or harm. On the
pleadings and on the findings of the Tribunal and of
the High Court, we are concerned with the undue
exercise of spiritual influence which has been found by.
the High Court to have been such a potent influence
as to induce in the electors the belief that they will be
rendered objects of divine displeasure or spiritual
censure if they did not carry out the command of their
spiritual head. It was argued that exh. P. l, on which
so much stress was laid by the Tribunal and by the
High Court, did not contain any such direct threat as
would bring the case within the second p;uagraph of
proviso (a) to s. 123(2). Exhibit P. 1, as officially
translated, is in these terms:-
"A command from Shri Sat Guru Sacha Padshah
to the Namdharies of Halqa-Sirsa ".
"Every Namdhari of this Halqa is commanded
by Shri Sat Gnru that he should make every effort for
(t) (1874) 2 O'M. & H. 15z, 156.
(2) S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS
759
the success of Shri Ram Dayal Vaid, a candidate for
the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, by giving his own vote and
those of his friends and acquaintances, it being our
primary duty to make him successful in the election.
The election symbol of Shri Vaid is a riding horseman.
Sd. Maharaj Bir Singh
S/o Sat Guru Maharaj Partap Singh,
Jivan Nagar (Hissar) ".
We have looked into the original document also, and
we agree with the High Court that the crucial words,
like hukam of Shri Sat Guru Sacha Padshah, etc.,
have been printed in very bold letters, conveying the
distinct impression to the large number of Namdharis,
who are voters in the constituency, that it was a matidate from their spiritual guru who wielded great local
influence amongst them, that it was their bounden
duty, under the strict orders of their religious leader,
not only to cast their own votes in favour of the
particular candidate, but also to exert their influence
amongst their friends and acquaintances in favour of
that candidate; and that any infringement of that
mandate had implicit in it divine displeasure or spiritual censure.
·It was contended on behalf of the appeUant that a
religious leader has as much the right to freedom of
speech as any other citizen, and that, therefore, his
exhortation in favour of a particular candidate should
not have the result of vitiating the election. There
cannot be the least doubt that a religious leader has
the right freely to express his opinion on the comparative merits of the contesting candidate and to canvass
for such of them as he considers worthy of the confidence of the electors. In other words, the religious
leader has a right to exercise his influence in favour
of any particular candidate by voting for him and by
canvassing votes of others for him. He has a right
to express his opinion on the individual merits of the
candidates. Such a course of conduct on his part,
will only be a use of his great influence amongst a
particular section of the voters in the constituency ;
but it will amount to an abuse of his great influence if
1959
Ram fJial
v.
Sant Lal
Q>. 01hers
SiHha ].
I959
Rani Dial
v.
Sant Lal
& Others
Sinha ].
760
SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1959] Supp.
the words he uses in a document, or utters in his speeches, leave no choice to the persons addressed by him,
in the exercise of their electoral rights. If the religious head had said that he preferred the appellant to
the other candidate, because, in his opinion, he was
more worthy of the confidence of the electors for cert:lin reasons good, bad or indifferent, and addressed
words to that effect to persons who 1_Vere amenable to
his influence, he would be within his rights, and his
influence, however great, could not be said to have
been misused.
But in the instant case, as it appears,
according to the findings of the High Court, in agreement with the Tribunal; that the religious leader practically left no free choice to the Namdhari electors,
n.ot only by issuing the hukam or f arman, as contained
in exh. P. I, quoted above, but also by his speeches,
to the effect that they must vote for the appe!Iant,
implying that disobedience of his mandate would
carry di vine displeasure or spiritual censure, the case
is clearly brought within the purview of the second
paragraph of the proviso to s. 123(2) of the Act. This
:1spect of the case has been dealt with at length by
the High Court in a well-considered judgment, and
we do not think it necessary to repeat all those observations, beyond saying that we agree with them. •In
that view of the matter, it is not necessary for us to
consider the further question whether cl. 2 of s. 123 of
the Act, apart from the proviso-para. (ii), discussed
above-covers a case, like the present, where the. undue influence is of a spiritual character as distinguished from threats of irijury to person or property.
As
t.he main ground urged in support of the appeal
against the judgment of the High Court, fails, the
appeal must be dismissed with costs to the respondent No. I.
Appeal dismissed.