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Oath or Affirmation
It is necessary for a candidate to make and subscribe an oath or affirmation before an officer authorised by the Election Commission. For any particular election, the authorised persons are, principally, the Returning Officer and the Assistant Returning Officer for the constituency. In the case of a candidate confined in a prison or under preventive detention, the superintendent of the prison or commandant of the detention camp in which he is so confined or is under such detention is authorised to administer the oath. And in the case of a candidate confined to bed in a hospital or elsewhere owing to illness or any other cause, the medical superintendent in charge of the hospital or the medical practitioner attending on him is similarly authorised. If a candidate is outside India, the Indian Ambassador or High Commissioner or diplomatic consular authorised by him can also administer oath/affirmation. The candidate, in person, is required to make the oath or affirmation immediately after presenting his nomination papers and in any case not later than the day previous to the date of the scrutiny8 .
