A person shall be deemed to have committed a corrupt practice who directly or indirectly by himself or by any other person–
(a) induces, or attempts to induce by fraud, intentional misrepresentation, coercion or threat of injury, any voter to give or to refrain from giving a vote in favour of any candidate;
(b) with a view to including any voter to give or to refrain from giving a vote in favour of any candidate or in consideration of any voter having voted or refrained from voting for any candidate, offers or gives any money or valuable consideration or any place or employment or holds out any promise of individual advantage or profit to any person including a promise of spiritual salvation;
(c) induces or attempts to induce a candidate or voter to believe that he or any person in whom he is interested will become or will be rendered an object of divine displeasure or of spiritual censure with a view to influence him in any way in connection with the election;
(d) employs, instigates or threatens any form of social boycott of any voter or candidate or of any one in whom such voter or candidate is interested;
1. Omitted by the Orissa Act 11 of 1994, w.e.f. 31.05.1994.
22 THE ORISSA MUNICIPAL MANUAL
(e) gives or procures the giving of a vote in the name of a voter who is not the person giving such a vote;
(f) makes or promises to make any payment to any person whomsoever on account of the conveyance of any elector to or from any place for the purpose of recording his vote or hires, employs, borrows or uses for the purpose of election any boat, vehicle or animal usually kept for letting on hire or for convenience of the passengers by hire except for carrying himself or his agents and messengers:
Provided that nothing contained in this clause shall prevent a conveyance being hired by a voter or several voters at their joint cost for the purpose of conveying him or them to or from the poll;
(g) offers any money or valuable consideration to any person to include him to withdraw from being a candidate at an election or being a candidate accepts any money or valuable consideration so offered;
(h) abates (within the meaning of the Indian Penal Code XLV of 1860, the doing of any of the acts specified in clauses (a), (b),(c),(d),(e), (f),and (g).
Explanation–
(i) 'A promise of individual advantage or profit to a person includes a promise for the benefit of the person himself or of any one in whom he is interested, but does not include a promise to further propose or to vote for or against any particular municipal measure or work;
(ii) No agent, clerk, messenger or other person, who may in accordance with prescribed rules, be employed for remuneration by a candidate at an election shall, by reason of such employment alone, be deemed to come within the provisions of this section;
(iii) A corrupt practice shall be deemed to have been committed by a candidate if it has been committed with his knowledge or consent or by a person who is acting under the general or special authority of such candidate with reference to the election;
(iv) Every person, who is guilty of a corrupt practice at, or in connection with an elections held under the provisions of this Act, shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to six months or with fine or with both.