The Kerala High Court today dismissed a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) alleging that no action has been taken on the complaint that a false affidavit has been filed along with the nomination paper by BJP leader and Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekar.
A bench of Justice V G Arun and Justice S. Manu denied invoke the writ jurisdiction and said its hands are tied as the election process has already commenced. The court observed that whether the Returning Officer should have considered the complaint and pass reasoned order cannot be considered at this stage. It added that the remedy of the petitioners if they are aggrieved by the affidavit filed by a candidate is to file an election petition.
The plea alleged that BJP leader Chandrasekhar deliberately omitted his assets including his properties, luxury cars and private jets and also grossly undervalued his shares in various companies.
The petition moved by advocate and Indian National Congress leader Avani Bansal and Renjith Thomas alleged that it is a rampant practice for candidates contesting in elections to file false affidavits along with their nominations.
The plea also claimed that as public-spirited individuals, they filed a complaint in this regard against Chandrasekhar before the returning officer in Thiruvananthapuram. It added that they had also provided prima facie evidence to justify an enquiry into the allegations.
According to the petition, the statutory authority to enquire into complaints made against candidates is the returning officer and he is required to give a speaking order with regard to any complaints that are made. Nonetheless, in this case, the returning officer is yet to give any order or report on the complaints, the petition mentioned.
The plea underlined that the nomination submitted by the BJP leader is in utter and repeated violation of the relevant provision of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1950, the Conduct of Election Rules 1961, and as per the compendium given on the Election Commission of India’s website.
It also noted that filing a false affidavit is punishable under Section 125A of the Representation of People Act, with imprisonment for a term which may extend upto 6 months or with a fine, or both. It further argued that the returning officer not providing a reasoned order in response to their complaint violates their right to know whether the allegations in the complaint have been accepted or denied.