Section 37 in The Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Rules, 1996
37. Fresh poll in case of destruction of ballot boxes.
(1)If at an election any ballot box in unlawfully taken out of the custody of the Presiding Officer or is in any way tempered with or is either accidently or intentionally or otherwise destroyed or lost, the Returning Officer shall forthwith report the matter to the District Panchayat Election Officer who may after holding such enquiry as he may deem necessary , and subject to any direction of the Election Authority declare such polling to be void and shall thereupon appoint a day for taking of a fresh poll in such polling station or stations as the case may be, and fix the hours during which the polling shall be taken.(2)Notwithstanding anything contained in these rules, the counting of votes in respect of the elections in the constituency, in which any election has been declared void under sub-rule (1) shall remain in abeyance till a fresh poll in respect of the election declare void is completed.(3)The provisions of rules 19 to 36 shall apply to every such fresh poll as they apply to the original poll.
