mode in which the case was to be proved; to enable the other side to know what evidence they ought to be prepared for trial and to prevent the other side from being taken by surprise.” Though a high court case, I find it appropriate to quote Bisuti (supra) with approval. In a nutshell, therefore, pleadings and the particulars thereof which should be given, should be precise not general, clear and timely, to afford the other party a fair and adequate opportunity to prepare his/her appropriate evidence and defence to the claim against him/her for a fair trial and to avoid any element of surprise to the opposite party. Any pleadings that fall short of this, would in my view, fail to meet the constitutional requirements of Article 28(I) and the law on pleadings. It would also go contrary to fundamental principles of natural justice entrenched in our Constitution and other law. A meaningful application of the law as stipulated above to the matter now before us must, in my view, address the trial of the petition holistically as a process and not as an event. Such application should start right from the time the respondent can be understood to have contemplated seeking redress from court over that election. By her own pleadings, the respondent indicates she was anxious about the election right from campaign time. Further, in her letter to the Returning Officer dated the 23rd Feb 2006, she indicated she would hold him responsible for the consequences of his inaction. From this evidence, I infer the respondent started preparing for court action earlier than the election day but certainly, at the latest, on the election day itself. Necessarily, therefore, the respondent started gathering evidence to be used in the petition at that time. When it came to filing the petition in court, the respondent did so referring to allegations against the appellants in very general terms as exemplified by paragraphs 6 and 7(a) of the petition. Then in paragraph 9 the respondent incorporates into the petition nonexistent documents referred to as ‘other affidavits’ to be filed in court. Five months later, when the hearing of the petition by the trial court is about to commence, the respondent confronts the appellants with numerous affidavits in support of the petition filed into court five months earlier. It is in these affidavits that