RAS question
Which section of the RPA, 1951 deals with corrupt practices in elections?
Correct answer: (D) Section 123.
Section 123 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 deals with corrupt practices in elections.
Explanation
Section 123 sits in Part VII of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, under the chapter on corrupt practices. It is the definitional provision that treats specified conduct as corrupt practice for the purposes of the Act. The listed conduct includes bribery, undue influence, appeals based on religion, race, caste, community or language, promotion of enmity, false statements about candidates, hiring vehicles for voters and election expenditure that violates section 77. That is why Section 123 is the precise answer: it does not merely punish one electoral offence or state a disqualification; it identifies the categories of conduct that make an election legally tainted by corrupt practice.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Section 171 belongs to the penal-code framework on election-related offences, while the question asks for the section within the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
- (B) Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 deals with disqualification on conviction for certain offences, not the definition of corrupt practices.
- (C) Section 100 deals with grounds on which an election may be declared void, whereas Section 123 defines what counts as corrupt practice.
Concept
This tests the election-law portion of Indian Polity, especially the Representation of the People Act, 1951. It recurs in RAS because corrupt practices, disqualification and election petitions are often tested through close section-number distinctions.