1. Short title and commencement.—(1) This Act may be called the Disputed Elections
(Prime Minister and Speaker) Act, 1977.
(2) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 3rd day of February, 1977.
2. Definitions.—In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a) “Authority” means an Authority constituted under section 4 for the trial of a petition;
(b) “candidate” means a person who has been or claims to have been duly nominated as a
candidate at any election;
(c) “costs” means all costs, charges and expenses of, or incidental to, trial of a petition under this
Act;
(d) “election” means an election in the case of Prime Minister or in the case of Speaker;
(e) “election in the case of Prime Minister” means an election to either House of Parliament of a
person who holds the office of Prime Minister at the time of such election or is appointed as Prime
Minister after such election;
(f) “election in the case of Speaker” means an election to the House of the People of a person who
holds the office of Speaker at the time of such election or is chosen as the Speaker for that House
after such election;
(g) “petition” means a petition calling in question an election;
(h) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(i) “returned candidate” means a candidate whose name has been published under section 67 of
the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (43 of 1951), as duly elected at an election in the case of
Prime Minister or, as the case may be, an election in the case of Speaker;
(j) each of the expressions defined in the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (43 of 1951), but
not defined in this Act shall have the same meaning as in that Act.