AMRIT LAL AMBALAL PATEL vs HIMATBHAI GOMANBHAI PATEL & ANOTHER

The Supreme Court held that under Section 36(2)(a) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, a candidate's nomination must be rejected if they have not attained the age of 25 years on the date fixed for scrutiny of nominations, which in this case was 21st January 1967. The Court found that the appellant was born on 25th January 1942, making him ineligible at the time of scrutiny. Consequently, the election was declared void under Section 100(1)(d) of the Act due to the improper acceptance of the appellant's nomination, which materially affected the election outcome.