Syllabus

Law OF ELECTIONS
b. a. ll. b. (hons.)
X Semester
Academic Year 2022 – 23
Course Teacher: DR. V. VIJAYAKUMAR
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Introduction

Elections play a very important role in all countries, democratic or otherwise. With
the huge voters’ population in India, combined with lack of legal literacy on Law of
Elections, the voters as well as elected representatives are not very clear about the
role of law and legal institutions play in the process of elections. That is the precise
reason that the law students need to have to be better equipped with the subject to
defend their clients in the future with some confidence.

Public Law teaching and discourses seldom includes a very important part of it, the
laws concerning the elections in India. Even if the topic is discussed while teaching
Presidential election, election to the Parliament, State Legislatures and Local
governments, no detailed discussion takes place on a very important part of public
law called the Law of Elections. This is the common phenomenon even in the
premier National Law Universities in the country where Election Law is not taught at
all.

Keeping this in mind, the objective of the course is to basically familiarize the
principles of elections to various constitutional bodies in context and seek to improve
the process of election by analyzing the different reforms required to sustain
democratic governance in India. Apart from various constitutional provisions,
statutes, rules and regulations along with judicial decisions would promote the
necessary analytical skill among the students. The course would also include the
judicial interpretations on the provisions of the Constitution relating to Elections,
Statutory interpretation and others. It is also necessary to highlight the role played by
technology in the electoral process along with the contributions made by NGOs to
this field of knowledge
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Objectives

The objectives of the course are to understand and appreciate:

 The evolution of Law of Elections

 The constitutional, statutory and other provisions in the light of contemporary
changes and technological interventions
 The judicial decisions of the courts
 The efforts taken by the NGOs and voluntary agencies in bringing necessary
changes in the electoral laws
 The recommendations made by various bodies for ushering in reforms in the
electoral laws as well as the reasons for not implementing them
 The role played by the Election Commission as well as the political parties in
the electoral process

Learning outcome

On the completion of the course, the students are expected to critically evaluate:

 The constitutional provisions, statutes, Rules, Regulations on electoral laws

 Identify the gaps in electoral laws and institutions and make necessary
recommendations for further strengthening them
 The reasons for not implementing various recommendations given by different
bodies on electoral reforms
 And support the initiatives of NGOs and Voluntary Organizations to improve
the electoral process.
 To specialize in the field of Law of Elections in their professional career, either
as a lawyer or as a teacher
 To pursue their interest in the field of Law of Elections in terms of research
and publications as well

Course outline

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Unit – I: Introduction
Meaning, nature and scope of ‘elections’ in a democracy – direct and indirect
elections – process of election – multiple votes – single vote – universal adult
suffrage – Proportional representation – territorial representation – constitutional
basis for the law of elections – Statutory provisions - rules – regulations -
notifications

Unit – II: Election Commissions

Election Commission of India – its constitution, powers and functions – single and
multi-member commission – CEC and ECs (Discharge of Powers and Functions) Act
– Rule making power of the Election Commission and its limits – voters identification
cards – role of Election Commission in the disqualification of members - State
Election Commissions and their powers and functions

Unit – III: allocation of seats and electoral rolls

Representation of Peoples Act, 1950 – Allocation of seats to Lok Sabha (House of
the People) – Allocation of seats in Legislative Assemblies and Legislative Councils
– Chief Electoral Officer and other Electoral Officers – Preparation and revision of
Electoral rolls – Filling of seats to Council of States – Rule making power – false
declaration – Breach of official duty

Unit – IV: Qualifications and disqualifications

Representation of Peoples Act, 1951 – Qualifications for being elected to the House
of the People, Council of States, Legislative Assemblies and Legislative Councils –
Disqualifications – disqualifications for voting – Notifications for general elections –
Returning, presiding, polling and other officers – Registration of political parties –
declaration of donations received by political parties.

Unit – V: conduct of elections

Election notification - nominations and withdrawal of nominations – information and
right to information about the contesting candidates – deposits – scrutiny of
nomination papers – Election, polling and counting agents – voting and electronic

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voting machines – Election Observers - declaration of results – publication of lists of
elected candidates – Remote Voting Machines

Unit – VI: electoral offences

Election expenses – Election petitions – trial of election petitions – recrimination
petition – appeals – corrupt practices – electoral offences – penalties –
disqualifications – powers and functions of the Election Commission – Electoral
Bonds – Issues in electoral process - Role of NGOs in the electoral process

Unit – VII: presidential and vice-presidential elections

Election of the President and the Vice President – Presidential and Vice-Presidential
Elections Act, 1952 – Rule of 1974 as amended from time to time – Proportional
representation and single transferable vote - Election petition – Exclusive jurisdiction
of the Supreme Court

Unit – VIII: judiciary and electoral process

Role of judiciary in various electoral processes – The role of the Supreme Court of
India - High Courts of India - Statutory period for disposal of election petition –
practice –delay and disposal of cases

Unit – IX: Reserved constituencies

Reserved constituencies and their implications –Ensuring participation by diverse
groups under 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution of India - Women’s
Reservation Bill for election to Legislative Assemblies and the Parliament of India –
Impact and implications at the Local government level

Unit – X: Electoral reforms

Electoral reforms – Goswami Committee on Electoral Reforms (1990) – Indrajit
Gupta Committee on State Funding of Elections (1998) – Law Commission’s Report
on Reforms of the Electoral Laws (1999) – The Election Commission’s Comments
and Reports – Amendments to Citizenship Act, 1955
READING LIST
ReCOMMENDED READING

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1. P. C. Jain and Kiran Gupta, Chawla’s Elections: Law and Practice, 10 th edn., Bahri
Brothers, Delhi, 2014
2. Justice T. S. Doabia, Law of Elections Petitions (2 Volume Set), 5 th edn., Lexis
Nexis, New Delhi, 2017
3. S K Mendiratta, All you want to know about Indian elections, 1 st edn.,
Butterworths-Wadhwa, Nagpur, 2009
4. V. S. Rama Devi, S. K. Mendiratta, How India Votes - Election Laws, Practice and
Procedure, 4th edn., 2017
5. Doabia and Doabia, Law of Elections and Election Petitions, 6 th edn.,Lexis Nexis,
New Delhi, 2021
6. Kuber Mahajan, Election Laws and Practice in India, Whitesmann Publishing Co.,
Delhi, 2022
7. Manav Malhotra, Singhal’s Law of Elections, Singhal Law Publications, Delhi,
2021

List of Cases
A. C. Jose v. Sivan Pillai, AIR 1984 SC 921; (1984) 2 SCC 656
AIADMK v. CEC, 2002 (1) UJ (SC) 387
All Party Hill Leaders Conference, Shillong v. M. A. Sangma, AIR 1977 SC 2155
Arabinda Dhall v. Nimai Chandra, AIR 2009 (NOC) 2561
Ashok Shankarrao Chavan v. Madhavrao Kinhalkar, AIR 2014 SC 3102
B. R. Kapur v. State of T.N., AIR 2001 SC 3435
Brajesh Singh v. Sunil Arora, [2021] 7 S. C. R. 890
Brundaban Nayak v. Election Commission of India, AIR 1965 SC 1892
Chandrasekar Raju v. Vyricherla Pradeep Kumar Dev, AIR 1992 SC 1959
Dr. Subramanyam Swamy v. Election Commission of India, W.P (C) No. 406 of 2012
Durga Shankar Mehta v. Raghuraj Singh, AIR 1954 SC 520
Election Commission of India v. Saka Venkata Rao, AIR 1953 SC 210
Election Commission of India v. Shivaji, AIR 1988 SC 61
Election Commission of India v. Subramanian Swamy, AIR 1996 SC 1810
Gajanan Samadhan Landhe v. Sanjay Shyamrao Dhotre, AIR 2012 SC 486
Government of A. P v. Mohd. Taher Ali, AIR 2008 SC 375

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Hari Vishnu Kamath v. Ahmad Ishaque, AIR 1955 SC 233
Jaya Bachchan v. Union of India, AIR 2006 SC 2119
K. Venkatachalam v. A. Swamickan, AIR 1999 SC 1723
Kanhiya Lal Omar v. R. K. Trivedi, AIR 1986 SC 111
Krishna Ballabh Prasad Singh v. SDO-cum-Returning Officer, AIR 1985 SC 1746
Mohinder Singh Gill v. Chief Election Commissioner, New Delhi, AIR 1978 SC 851
N. P. Pomuswami v. Returning Officer, Namakkal Constituency, AIR 1952 SC 64
Pramod Laxman Gudadhe v. ECI, [2018] 4 S. C. R 397
Purno Agitok Sangma v. Pranab Mukherjee, AIR 2003 SC 372
Raghbir Singh v. Surjit Singh, 1994 Supp (3) SCC 162
Rahim Khan v. ECI, AIR 1981 P&H 79
Rajendra Singh Rana v. Swami Prasad Maurya, AIR 2007 SC 1305 [5 JB]
Roop Lal Sathi v. Nachhattar Singh, AIR 1982 SC 1559
S.S. Dhanoa v. Union of India, AIR 1991 SC 1745
Shibu Soren v. Dayanand Sahay, AIR 2001 SC 2583
Srikant v. Vasantrao, AIR 2006 SC 918
T. N. Seshan v. Union of India, (1995) 4 SCC 611
Taqdur Bala Gond v. M. Narayan Reddy, AIR 1989 SC 875
Union of India v. Association for Democratic Reforms, AIR 2002 SC 2112
Zile Singh v. ECI, (2005) 10 SCC 262

Reports of Committees and Commissions

1. Goswami Committee on Electoral Reforms (1990)
2. Indrajit Gupta Committee on State Funding of Elections (1998)
3. Law Commission’s Report on Reforms of the Electoral Laws (1999)
4. The Election Commission’s Comments and Reports

Evaluation
1. Project written submission - 30 marks
2. Preliminary presentation of project - 10 marks
3. Final Presentation of project - 10 marks
4. End term examination - 50 marks

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