Section 135A: Offence of booth capturing.

The Representation of the People Act, 1951Central Act · Act 43 of 1951

[135A. Offence of booth capturing.--[(1)] Whoever commits an offence of booth capturing shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which [shall not be less than one year but which may extend extend to three years and with fine, and where such offence is committed by a person in the service of the Government, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than three years but which may extend to five years and with fine.]

Explanation.--For the purposes of [this sub-section and section 20B], booth capturing includes, among other things, all or any of the following activities, namely:--

(a) seizure of a polling station or a place fixed for the poll by any person or persons, making polling authorities surrender the ballot papers or voting machines and doing of any other Act which affects the orderly conduct of elections;

(b) taking possession of a polling station or a place fixed for the poll by any person or persons, and allowing only his or their own supporters to exercise their right to vote and [prevent others from free exercise of their right to vote];

(c)[coercing or intimidating or threatening directly or indirectly], any elector and preventing him him from going to the polling station or a place fixed for the poll to cast his vote;

(d) seizure of a place for counting of votes by any person or persons, making the counting authorities surrender the ballot papers or voting machines and the doing of anything which affects the orderly counting of votes;

(e) doing by any person in the service of Government, of all or any of the aforesaid activities or aiding or conniving at, any such activity in the furtherance of the prospects of the election of a candidate.]

[(2) An offence punishable under sub-section (1) shall be cognizable.]

Where this provision sits

Act	The Representation of the People Act, 1951
Section	135A
Marginal note	Offence of booth capturing.
Jurisdiction	Central
Status	In force as published by the source

How this provision has been amended

Taken from the footnotes printed with the provision by the source. Where a footnote names the amending instrument, it is quoted as printed.

inserted, Act 1 of 1989. . Ins. by Act 1 of 1989, s. 15 (w.e.f. 15-3-1989).
renumbered, Act 21 of 1996. . Section 135A renumbered as sub-section (1) thereof by Act 21 of 1996, s. 15 (w.e.f. 1-8-1996).
substituted. Subs. by s. 15, bid., for certain words (w.e.f. 1-8-1996).
substituted. Subs. by s. 15, ibid., for "this section" (w.e.f. 1-8-1996).
substituted. Subs. by s. 15, ibid., for "threatening" (w.e.f. 1-8-1996).
inserted. Ins. by s. 15, ibid. (w.e.f. 1-8-1996).

Find the provision, not just read it

The full text above is free, and it stays free. What a free CourtMesh account adds is everything you cannot do by reading one page at a time:

Search 49,000+ Central and State enactments by what a provision says, not by its number
Jump from any section to every judgment that has applied it
Search 300 million+ Indian court records alongside the statute
Ask a research agent to find and read the case law on a provision for you

Free account. No card. About a minute to create.

Create a free account

Need this as data, not as a page? The Representation of the People Act, 1951 is one of 49,000+ enactments on CourtMesh. The Indian court cases API serves the case law that cites these provisions over JSON, with API documentation and plans and pricing. See also the judgment library.