21Power to make rules

(1) The Central Government may, after consulting the Election Commission, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rulesfor carrying out the purposes of this Act.

(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:--

(a) the maintenance of a list of members of the electoral college referred to in article 54 with their addresses corrected up to date for the purposes of Presidential elections;

(b) the maintenance of a list of ¹[members of the electoral college referred to in article 66] with their addresses corrected up to date for the purposes of Vice-Presidential elections;

(c) the powers and duties of a Returning Officer and the performance by any officer appointed to assist the Returning Officer of any function of the Returning Officer;

²[(cc) the form and manner in which public notice under section 5 shall be given by the Returning Officer.]

(d) the form and manner in which nominations may be made and the procedure to be followed in respect of the presentation of nomination papers;

(e) the scrutiny of nominations and, in particular, the manner in which such scrutiny shall be conducted and the conditions and circumstances under which any person may be present or may enter objections thereat;

(f) the publication of a list of valid nominations;

³[(g) the place and hours of polling, the manner in with votes are to be given both generally and in the case of illiterate voters or voters not conversant with the language in which ballot papers are printed or voter under physical or other disability and the procedure as to voting to be followed at elections;]

(h) the scrutiny and counting of votes including cases in which a re-count of the votes may be made before the declaration of the result of the election;

(i) the safe custody of ballot boxes, ballot papers and other election papers, the period for which such papers shall be preserved and the inspection and production of such papers;

(j) any other matter required to be prescribed by this Act.

⁴[(3) Every rule made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both Houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form, or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.]