Justice M.I.Arun, Karnataka High Court
Any Act Done By Candidate Prior To Nomination Filing Not Corrupt Practice U/S.123 Representation Of People Act: Karnataka High Court
|The election petition before the Karnataka High Court was filed challenging the election of MP Prabha Mallikarjun to the Davanagere Lokasabha constituency in the general elections held in May 2024.
The Karnataka High Court has rejected a petition filed against the election of Congress MP Prabha Mallikarjun and held that any act done by a candidate prior to filing of nomination does not come under the ambit of corrupt practice under Section 123 of the Representation of the People Act.
The election petition before the High Court was filed challenging the election of the respondent to the Davanagere Lokasabha constituency in the general elections held in May 2024. Her election was sought to be set aside on the ground that she and her agents indulged in corrupt practices as per Section 123(1)(A)(b) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
The Single Bench of Justice M.I.Arun held, “Thus, a person becomes a candidate as per Section 79(b) of the Act for the purposes of Section 123 of the Act only upon filing of nomination and not earlier to it. In the instant case, respondent No.1 has become a candidate only after 12.04.2024 (the date on which she has filed her nomination) and not earlier to it. Thus, any act done by respondent No.1 prior to 12.04.2024, does not become a corrupt practice for the purposes of Section 123 of the Act.”
Advocate Venkatesh P. Dalwai represented the Petitioner, while Advocate Prashant F. Goudar represented the Respondent.
Factual Background
It was alleged that the husband and the father-in-law of the Respondent MP, with her consent, distributed the pressure cookers to the voters to vote for the Respondent after the code of conduct was declared. Further, Rs 2000 was distributed to each of the voters in the area of KTJ Nagar booth by the Congress corporators in order to secure the votes for the Respondent. It was thus alleged that the Respondent had committed a corrupt practice which materially affected the election in favour of the Respondent.
Reasoning
The Bench, at the outset, explained that a person becomes a candidate after he has been duly nominated as a candidate at an election.
The Bench took note of the fact that all the specific allegations of corrupt practice alleged against the respondent MP were said to have been made much before she became a candidate. “Thus, even if all the allegations made against respondent No.1 in the election petition are held to be true, the petitioner cannot succeed in the election petition and under the circumstances, it has to be construed that the election petition has been filed without a valid cause of action”, it added.
Thus, in view of such facts and circumstances, the Bench rejected the Election Petition.
Cause Title: Suban Khan v. Prabha Mallikarjun (Cause Title: Election Petition No.3 of 2024)
Appearance
Petitioner: Advocates Venkatesh P. Dalwai, Shivaraj B.
Respondent: Advocates Prashant F. Goudar, Goutam S. Bharadwaj