Section 30 · Other offences and penalties

(1) A person shall be guilty of an electoral offence, if at any election he- (a) fraudulently defaces, destroys any nomination paper; or (b) fraudulently defaces, destroys or removes any list, notice or other document affixed by or under the authority of the returning officer; or (c) fraudulently defaces or destroys any ballot paper or the official mark on any ballot paper or any declaration of identify or official envelope used in connection with voting by postal ballot; or (d) without due authority supplies any ballot paper to any person or receives any ballot paper from any person or is in possession of any ballot paper; or (e) fraudulently puts into any ballot-box anything other than the ballot paper which he is authorised by law to put in; or (f) without due authority destroys, takes, opens or otherwise interferes with any ballot box or ballot paper then in use for the purpose of the election; or (g) fraudulently or without due authority, as the case may be, attempts to do any of the foregoing acts or wilfully aids or abets the doing of any such acts. 1[(h) violates the Model Code of Conduct issued by the State Election Commission.] (2) Any person guilty of an offence under this section shall- (a) if he is a returning officer or an assistant returning officer or a presiding officer or a polling officer or any other officer or official employed on official duty in connection with the election, be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both; (b) if he is any other person, be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine, or with both. (3) For the purposes of this section, a person shall be deemed to be on official duty if his duty is to take part in the conduct of any election or part of an election including the counting of votes or to be responsible after an election for the used ballot papers and other documents in connection with such election. (4) An offence punishable under sub-section (2) shall be cognizable. (5) No court shall take cognizance of any offence under section 24, or under section 28, or under clause (a) of sub-section (2) of this section unless there is a complaint made by order of, or under authority from, the State Election Commissioner. 2[30-A. Promoting enmity between classes of citizen in connection with the election .- Any person who in connection with an election under this Act promotes or attempts to promote on grounds of religion, race, caste, community or language, feelings of enmity or hatred between different classes of the citizen of India shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both. 30-B. Disturbances at election meetings .- (1) Any person who at a public meeting to which this section applies acts or incites others to act, in a disorderly manner for the purpose of preventing the transaction of the business for which the meeting was called together, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees, or with both. (2) An offence punishable under sub-section (1) shall be cognizable. (3) This section applies to any public meeting of a political character held in any constituency between the date of the issue of a notification under this Act calling upon constituency to elect a member or members and the date on which election is held. (4) If any police officer reasonably suspects any person of committing an offence under sub-section (1), he may, if requested so to do by the 1. Clause (h) added vide H.P. Act No. 5 of 2002. 2. Sections 30-A to 30-I inserted vide H.P. Act No. 5 of 2002. Chairman of the meeting require that person to declare to him immediately his name and address and, if the persons refuses or fails to declare his name and address, or if the police officer reasonably suspects him of giving a false name or address, the police officer may arrest him without warrant. 30-C. Restrictions on the printing of pamphlets, posters etc .- (1) No person shall print or publish, or cause to be printed or published, any election pamphlet or poster which does not bear on its face the names and addresses of the printer and the publisher thereof. (2) No person shall print or cause to be printed any election pamphlet or poster- (a) unless a declaration as to the identity of the publisher thereof, signed by him and attested by two persons to whom he is personally known, is delivered by him to the printer in duplicate; and (b) unless within reasonable time after the printing of the document, one copy of the declaration is sent by the printer, together with one copy of the document,- (i) where it is printed in the Capital of the State, to the State Election Commission; and (ii) in any other case, to the District Magistrate of the district, it is printed. (3) For the purposes of this section,- (a) any process for multiplying copies of a document, other than copying it by hand, shall be deemed to be printed and the expression "printer" shall be construed accordingly; and (b) "election pamphlet or poster" means any printed pamphlet, hand-bill or other document distributed for the purpose of promoting or prejudicing the election of a candidate or group of candidates or any placard or poster having reference to an election, but does not include any hand-bill, placard or poster merely announcing the date, time, place and other particulars of an election meeting or routine instructions to election agents or workers. (4) Any person who contravenes any of the provisions of sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees, or with both. 30-D. Penalty for failure to observe procedure for voting .- If any elector to whom a ballot paper has been issued, refuses to observe the procedure prescribed for voting, the ballot paper issued to him shall be liable for cancellation. 30-E. Penalty for illegal hiring or procuring of conveyance at elections .- If any person is guilty of any such corrupt practices as specified in sub-section (5) of section 21 of this Act, at or in connection with an election, he shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to three months, or with fine. 30-F. Penalty for Government servants for acting as election agent, polling agent or counting agent .- If any person in the service of the Government acts as an election agent or a polling agent or a counting agent of a candidate at an election, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine, or with both. 30-G. Prohibition of going armed to or near a polling station .- (1) No person, other than the returning officer, the presiding officer, any police officer and any other person appointed to maintain peace and order at a polling station who is on duty at the polling station, shall, on a polling day, go armed with arms, as defined in the Arms Act, 1959 (54 of 1959), of any kind within the neighbourhood of polling station. (2) If any person contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1), he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both. (3) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Arms Act, 1959 (54 of 1959), where a person is convicted of an offence under this section, the arms as defined in the said Act found in his possession shall be liable to confiscation and the licence granted in relation to such arms shall be deemed to have been revoked under section 17 of that Act. (4) An offence punishable under sub-section (2) shall be cognizable. 30-H. Grant of paid holiday to employees on the day of poll .- (1) Every person employed in any business, trade, industrial undertaking or any other establishment and entitled to vote at election to the Municipal Corporation shall, on the day of poll, be granted a holiday. (2) No deduction or abatement of the wages of any such person shall be made on account of a holiday having been granted in accordance with sub-section (1) and if such person is employed on the basis that he would not ordinarily receive wages for such a day, he shall nonetheless be paid for such day the wages he would have drawn had not a holiday been granted to him on that day. (3) If an employer contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), then such employer shall be punishable with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees. (4) This section shall not apply to any elector whose absence may cause danger or substantial loss in respect of the employment in which he is engaged. 30-I. Liquor not to be sold, given or distributed on polling day .- (1) No spirituous, fermented or intoxicating liquors or other substances of a like nature shall be sold, given or distributed at a hotel, catering house, tavern, shop or any other place, public or private, within a polling area during the period of forty-eight hours ending with the hour fixed for the conclusion of the poll for any election in that polling area. (2) Any person who contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1), shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees, or with both. (3) Where a person is convicted of an offence under this section, the spirituous, fermented or intoxicating liquors or other substances of a like nature found in his possession shall be liable to confiscation and the same shall be disposed off in such manner as may be prescribed.]