Article 131 Application for relief
An application for relief under this article may be made to the High Court or an election court or else, if in respect of a payment made in contravention of article 51(1), (2) or (3), to a county court.
Where a person makes an application under this article he shall notify the Director of Public Prosecutions of the application and the Director or his assistant or representative may attend the hearing of the application and make representations at the hearing in respect of it.
If it is shown to the court by such evidence as to the court seems sufficient—
that any act or omission of any person would apart from this article by reason of being in contravention of this Order be an illegal practice, payment, employment or hiring,
that the act or omission arose from inadvertence or from accidental miscalculation or from some other reasonable cause of a like nature, and in any case did not arise from any want of good faith, and
that such notice of the application has been given in the Assembly constituency or electoral region for which the election was held, as to the court seems fit,
and under the circumstances it seems to the court to be just that either that or any other person should not be subject to any of the consequences under this Order of the act or omission, the court may make an order allowing the act or omission to be an exception from the provisions of this Order making it an illegal practice, payment, employment or hiring and upon the making of the order no person shall be subject to any of the consequences under this Order of that act or omission.
The jurisdiction vested by the above provisions of this article in the High Court in matters relating to Assembly elections shall, subject to rules of court, be exercised by one of the judges for the time being on a rota for the trial of parliamentary election petitions sitting either in court or at chambers but shall not be exercisable by a master.
The jurisdiction vested by this article in a county court may be exercised otherwise than in open court.
An appeal lies to the High Court from any order of a county court made under this article.