Press Trust Of India
New Delhi, Feb 5: Supreme Court Thursday held that election of candidates who have concealed their criminal antecedents during nomination process should be declared null and void.
The suppression of criminal antecedents, especially relating to heinous crimes, by a candidate during nomination, deprived voters of an opportunity to make an informed choice and this created impediments in the free exercise of electoral right. Such an election is liable to be rejected, the apex court ruled.
The judgement was delivered in a case relating to non-disclosure of full particulars of criminal cases pending against a candidate, Krishnamoorthy, who was elected as president of Thekampatti Panchayat, Mettupalayam taluk of Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu, in 2006. Krishnamoorthy’s election was challenged on the sole ground that he had filed a false declaration suppressing details of the criminal cases pending trial against him and therefore his nomination ought to have been rejected by the returning officer.
“Disclosure of criminal antecedents of a candidate, especially pertaining to heinous or serious offence or offences relating to corruption or moral turpitude at the time of filing of nomination paper as mandated by law, is a categorical imperative.”
