26. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the preceding section if the [District Judge] in the course of hearing an election petition is of the opinion that the evidence discloses that corrupt practices at the election proceedings in question have prevailed to such an extent as to render it advisable to set aside the show proceedings, it shall pass conditional order to this effect and give notice thereof to every candidate declared elected who has not already been made a party in the case calling upon him to show cause why such conditional order should not be made final.
(2) Thereupon every such candidate may appear and show cause, and may have recalled, for the purpose of putting questions to him, any witness who has appeared in the case.
(3) The [District Judge] shall thereafter either cancel the conditional order or make it absolute, in which case it shall direct the board to take measures for holding fresh election proceedings.
Explanation- In this clause the expressions "the election proceedings in question" and "the whole proceedings" shall mean all proceedings (inclusive of nomination and declaration of election) taken in respect of a single poll, whether the poll be for the purpose of selecting one or more persons to represent a ward or otherwise.