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Abhiram Singh v. C.D. Commachen (Dead) By LRs. & Ors. (with Narayan Singh v. Sunderlal Patwa)

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 37 of 1992)Decided 2 Jan 2017
Civil Appeal No. 37 of 1992
Chief Justice T.S. Thakur · Justice Madan B. Lokur · Justice S.A. Bobde · Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel · Justice Uday Umesh Lalit · Justice L. Nageswara Rao · Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud

Background

This case arose out of two old election disputes (from 1990 Maharashtra and 1993 Madhya Pradesh assembly elections) in which the winning candidates were accused of appealing for votes on the ground of religion. Earlier Supreme Court decisions had given conflicting answers to a narrow but consequential question: does Section 123(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which makes it a "corrupt practice" to appeal for votes "on the ground of his religion, race, caste, community or language", refer only to the candidate's own religion/caste etc., or does it also cover an appeal made on the basis of the voter's religion/caste? A seven-judge bench was constituted to resolve the conflict.

Decision Breakdown

By a 4:3 majority (Lokur, J., with L. Nageswara Rao, J., and concurred in by Thakur, CJI, and Bobde, J.), the Court held that Section 123(3) must be read broadly and purposively: an election can be annulled as a "corrupt practice" if a candidate, agent or anyone with the candidate's consent appeals for votes, or asks voters to withhold votes from a rival, on the ground of religion, race, caste, community or language, regardless of whose religion/caste/etc. is invoked, including that of the voters themselves. The dissenting opinion (Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud, J., joined by Goel and Lalit, JJ.) would have read "his" more narrowly, confining the prohibition to an appeal based on the candidate's own (or a rival candidate's) religion, caste, race, community or language, while leaving room for political discourse about voters' own social and historical grievances linked to those traits. The reference was answered in line with the majority view and sent back for the original Bench to decide the pending appeals.

Lesson Learnt

Under Indian election law, campaigning that appeals to religion, caste, race, community or language, whether invoking the candidate's own identity or the voters', can be struck down as a corrupt practice capable of voiding an election; Indian elections are meant to be conducted as a secular exercise free of such appeals.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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