Section 174 in The Himachal Pradesh Panchayati Raj Act, 1994
174. Decision of the authorised officer.
(1)Where an election petition has not been dismissed under section 165, the authorized officer shall inquire into the election petition and at the conclusion of the inquiry shall make an order -(a)dismissing the election petition; or(b)declaring the election of all or any of the elected persons to be void; or(c)declaring the election of all or any of the elected persons to be void and the petitioner or any other candidate to have been duly elected.(2)At the time of making an order under sub-section (1) the authorized officer shall also make an order,-(a)where any charge is made in the petition of any corrupt practice having been committed at the election, recording-(i)a finding whether any corrupt practice has or has not been proved to have been committed at the election and the nature of that corrupt practice; and(ii)the name of all persons, if any, who have been proved at the trial to have been guilty of any corrupt practice and the nature of that practice; and(b)fixing the total amount of costs payable, and specifying the persons by and to whom costs shall be paid:Provided that a person who is not a party to the petition shall not be named in the order under sub-clause (ii) of clause (a) unless-(i)he has been given notice to appear before the authorised officer and to show cause why he should not be so named; and(ii)if he appears in pursuance of the notice, he has been given an opportunity of cross-examining any witness, who has already been examined by the authorised officer and has given evidence against him, of calling evidence in his defence and of being heard.
