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In paragraph 8 of the Election Petition, the appellant stated that as many as 188 votes had been wrongly counted though they were invalid/void votes. In the Election Petition itself, the appellant had given details of all such votes. He also stated that since the margin of votes between the defeated candidate and the returned candidate was only 51 votes and the wrong counting of votes amounted to 188 invalid/void votes, it had materially affected the result of the election. In para 8(i), he stated that as many as 37 votes of dead persons have been cast and they should not have been counted. The appellant had given names of those dead persons along with numbers in the voters' list. Death certificates of 36 persons were filed as Annexure EP-3 to EP-38. He stated that the Gram Panchayat concerned had not issued death certificate in respect of one Mukesh Kumar. He, therefore, annexed Death Report along with a forwarding letter dated April 7, 2003 in respect of deceased Mukesh Kumar issued by the Senior Medical Officer, Zonal Hospital, Una District, Una. The appellant also stated that out of 37 votes, 30 votes had been polled in booth Nos. 48 and 49, in the native village of the first respondent-returned candidate. In paragraph 8(ii), the appellant alleged that as many as 60 double votes had been cast which was in contravention of the provisions of Section 62(4) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"). Thus, 120 votes had been counted though voters were only 60. It was in violation of the statutory provision and those votes were, therefore, void. The details of those votes had also been mentioned in the Election Petition itself. In paragraph 8(iii), the appellant averred that 19 void votes had been polled. Even though all those persons cast their votes in booth Nos. 76 and 63 of Kutlehar  33 Constituency, in Una 32 Constituency, the same voters had again cast their votes. The appellant has given details of those voters in the Election Petition. According to the appellant, the returned candidate was the beneficiary of those void votes and since the margin was small, the result had been materially affected. In paragraph 8(iv), the appellant had alleged that material irregularities had been committed by the Returning Officer while counting Postal Ballot Papers. Six persons named in the petition had sent double Postal Ballot Papers. So instead of six votes, twelve votes had been cast.

The Court then stated;

"The defeated candidate does not say that he was not aware of the entries of the dead persons in the Electoral Roll which, in my view, is a material fact and ought to have been pleaded".

The High Court also observed that there was not a word, a whisper that the polling agents challenged the identity of the persons who allegedly voted for dead electors. No reason was put forward as to why it was not challenged. In the opinion of the High Court, it was a material fact which ought to have been pleaded to enable elected candidate to meet the challenge. According to the High Court, when the appellant had given particulars of dead persons for whom the voting right was exercised by impersonation, he must have known at the time of polling that those electors were dead. If he was not aware, he ought to have stated as to when and how he came to know about 37 voters whose names appeared in the electoral rolls and how by personation votes were polled. There was no allegation that the votes cast due to impersonation of the dead persons were managed by the returned candidate or his supporters or election agent. The said allegation thus lacked material facts. Omission to mention those material facts rendered the cause of action incomplete, observed the High Court. According to the High Court, merely because the returned candidate had won by a narrow margin, it could not be a reason for inspection of ballot papers or re-counting of votes. Regarding 60 persons alleged to have exercised right to vote twice in the same constituency in booth Nos. 48 and 49, thereby resulting in 120 void votes in Una 32 Constituency, the High Court observed that the Election Petition was silent as to when and how the appellant came to know about the persons having cast their votes in different booths in the same constituency. He did not state who impersonated for those persons in the other booth. The appellant also did not say precisely as to when he came to know that 60 persons had voted twice. As to 19 persons alleged to have voted in two different constituencies, the High Court observed that the allegations were not supported by material facts. Even though the pleading indicated that the defeated candidate was aware of the persons who voted twice at the same constituency and in different constituencies, neither he nor any person on his behalf raised any objection at the relevant time. He also did not disclose the source of information regarding casting of void votes which was a material fact. Only a bald assertion had been made which was not sufficient.

38. Regarding the remaining one, he had stated that the Gram Panchayat had not issued death certificate, but Death Report issued by the Senior Medical Officer, Zonal Hospital, Una had been annexed at Annexure EP 39. The High Court, dealing with the allegation in para 8(i) has observed that there was nothing to show and not a word as to how many of those 37 votes were cast in favour of the returned candidate and who cast those votes. It was also observed that the defeated candidate never raised any objection at the time of polling and at the stage of filing Election Petition, it was not open to raise an objection. It was further observed that it was not the case of the election-petitioner that he was not aware of death of those persons at the time of polling and it was a case of personation of electors within the meaning of Section 61 of the Act. There was also not a whisper, observed the High Court that the polling agent had challenged the identity of the persons who allegedly voted for the dead electors. The High Court also stated that it was not stated in the Election Petition that the returned candidate or his supporters or election agent managed to have votes cast by impersonation. All these facts, according to the High Court, were material facts and since they were not stated in the Election Petition, the petition was defective.

The High Court almost for the same reasons on which it ordered deletion of para 8(i), has also ordered to delete para 8(ii). It observed that the petition was significantly silent as to when and how the election- petitioner came to know about the persons having cast their votes twice in two different booths in the same constituency. He also did not say who impersonated for those persons in the other booth. Nothing was stated as to when the petitioner precisely came to know about the fact that 60 persons had cast their votes twice in different booths and no reasons was put forward as to why no objection was raised at the relevant time. All these facts, according to the High Court, were material facts and since they were not stated, the petition was defective. With respect, the High Court is not right. When the law prevents a person from exercising right of vote more than once and it is alleged that there was double voting in respect of certain persons, the 'allegation' can be said to be complete. Whether or not the election-petitioner is able to prove the said allegation is a matter of evidence which can be considered only at the stage of trial. By no stretch of imagination, however, it can be said that the material fact, that is, allegation regarding double voting had not been stated in the Election Petition which required Election Petition to be dismissed on that ground. As to para 8(iii), the case of the election-petitioner was that 19 void votes had been cast. The said votes being void since 19 persons had exercised their right to vote in two constituencies, i.e. in Una 32 Constituency as also in booth No 76 and 63 of Kutlehar 33 Constituency. The details of those voters have been mentioned in the Election Petition.