Adjournment of poll or counter mending of election on the ground of booth capturing

(1) If at any election— (a) booth capturing has taken place at a polling station or at a place fixed for the poll (hereinafter in this section referred to as a place) in such a manner that the result of the poll at that place cannot be ascertained; or (b) booth capturing has taken place in any place for counting of votes in such a manner that the result of the counting at that place cannot be ascertained; the Returning Officer shall forthwith report the matter to the Election Commission. (2) The Election Commission shall, on the receipt of a report from the Returning Officer under sub-section (1), and after taking all material circumstances into account, either— (a) declare that the poll at that place shall be void and appoint a day, and fix the hours for taking fresh poll at that place and notify the date so appointed and hours so fixed in such manner as it may deem fit; or (b) if satisfied that in view of the large number of places involved in booth capturing, the result of the election is likely to be affected, or that booth capturing had affected counting of votes in such a manner as to affect the result of the election; countermand the election in that constituency. Explanation.- In this section, the expression "booth capturing" shall have the same meaning as is assigned to it in section 123.