Page 25 - Leap of Faith inside pages with cover (1)

Long Road to Democracy “ Chapter 1

“ Subhas Chandra Bose
Democracy is by no means a Western institution, it is a
human institution. Wherever man has attempted to
evolve political institutions, he has hit upon this
wonderful institution called democracy.

Maharashtra Provincial Conference, Pune
May 3, 1928

(An extract om the Government of India Act, 1919)

The Government of India formulated detailed rules and
regulations with regard to Council of States and Legislative
Assembly as well as provincial legislative councils. These
were updated from time to time.
From this time onwards, one finds election guides being
published to explain the subject to candidates, electors and
officials. These include titles like Indian Election Guide
published by the Indian Civil Services, Indian Electioneering
by E.L.L. Hammond, Nirvachan Niyam (in Hindi) by
Dayashankar Dubey et al, Indian Candidate and Returning
Officer by E.L.L. Hammond (with a Foreword by Edwin S.
Montagu) that appeared between 1920 and 1923.
Corrupt practices like bribery, inducement, threat and
impersonation, etc were common in elections. India's first
election related law viz. Indian Election Offences and
Inquiries Act, 1920 (Act 39 of 1920) received the Governor
General's assent on September 14, 1920. Aimed at
combating the evils of impersonation, bribery, mayhem
and misrepresentation, its provisions were incorporated Nirvachan Niyam (1926)- An election guide in Hindi
into the Indian Penal Code, 1860 as Chapter IXA. published om Vrindavan (United Provinces)

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