duly nominated as a candidate at any election” and any such person shall be deemed to have been a candidate as from the time, when with the election in prospect, he began to hold himself out as a prospective candidate The new definition states that “unless the context otherwise requires, 'candidate' means a person who has been or claims to have been duly nominated as a candidate at any election”. The question as to when a person holds himself out as candidate, therefore, loses its importance in the context of the new definition. 217. One of the grounds which weighed with the High Court in declaring the election of the appellant to be void was that the appellant committed corrupt practice under Section 123(7) of the RP Act inasmuch as she obtained and procured the assistance, for the furtherance of her election prospects, of Yashpal Kapur during the period from January 7 to 24, 1971 when Yashpal Kapur was still a gazetted officer in the service of the Government of India. 218. According to clause (7) of Section 123 of the RP Act, the following act shall constitute corrupt practice under that clause; “The obtaining or procuring or abetting or attempting to obtain or procure by a candidate or his agent or, by any other person with the consent of a candidate or his election agent, any assistance (other than the giving of vote) for the furtherance of the prospects of that candidate's election, from any person in the service of the Government and belonging to any of the following classes, namely:— (a) gazetted officers: (b) stipendiary Judges and Magistrates; (c) members of the armed forces of the Union; (d) members of the police forces; (e) excise officers; (f) revenue officers other than village revenue officers known as lambardars, malguzars, deshmukhs or by any other name, whose duty is to collect land revenue and who are remunerated by a share of or commission on, the amount of land revenue collected by them but who do not discharge any police function; and (g) such other class of persons in the service of the Government as may be prescribed. Explanation — (1) In this section the expression 'agent' includes an election agent, or polling agent and any person who is held to have acted as an agent in connection with the consent of the candidate. (2) For the purposes of clause (7), a person shall be deemed to assist in the furtherance of the prospects of a candidate's election if he acts as an election agent.” Perusal of the above clause shows that what constitutes corrupt practice under the above clause is the obtaining or procuring or abetting or attempting to obtain or procure by a candidate or his agent or by any person