India News | Guj HC Issues Notice to Cong MLA After Plea Challenges His Election for Not Disclosing Details of FIRs in Affidavit
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Gujarat High Court has issued a notice to Congress MLA Kirit Patel over a petition challenging his election for allegedly hiding details of FIRs in the affidavit with his nomination form for the 2022 Assembly polls.
Ahmedabad, Apr 10 (PTI) The Gujarat High Court has issued a notice to Congress MLA Kirit Patel over a petition challenging his election for allegedly hiding details of FIRs in the affidavit with his nomination form for the 2022 Assembly polls.
The court of Justice Sangeeta Vishen issued a notice to Patel and the returning officer of Patan Assembly seat in an election petition filed by one Pankaj Velani, who accused the MLA of suppressing information regarding FIRs registered against him between 2009 and 2018 under IPC provisions that attract a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
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The notice, returnable on June 16, was issued in an order passed on April 6.
Patel won the election from the Patan Assembly seat for the second time in a row in December 2022. He is one of the 17 MLAs of the Congress who won the 2022 Assembly election.
The petitioner appealed to the court to declare Patel's election as null and void and remove him from his post for failing to furnish information as to whether he is accused of any offence punishable with imprisonment for two years or more in a pending case, as required under section 33 A of the Representation of the People Act.
Among the FIRs details of which Patel hid in his affidavit are those under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections dealing with attempt to murder, dacoity, criminal breach of trust, forgery, etc., the plea claimed.
The petitioner said that he had written to the returning officer on December 1, 2022 with the request to re-examine his nomination form. He also wrote to the Election Commission of India, State Election Commission and Chief Electoral Officer regarding the same, but no action was taken.
Patel also misled the Election Commission by claiming that the police had quashed his name as an accused in one the FIRs, he alleged.
He was obliged to submit the details, and failing to do so can get his election declared as void on the ground of non-compliance of the provisions of the RP Act, he said.
The MLA has "misled the Election Commission of India and defrauded the state authorities as well as the public at large by winning the election," the petitioner stated.
He further alleged that the returning officer was "in collusion" with the then Congress candidate and did not act fairly as per the provisions of the Representation of the People Act.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)