The Kerala High Court on Tuesday rejected a public interest litigation (PIL) plea alleging that the Election Commission of India (ECI) had not acted on a complaint that the BJP’s Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha elections candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar had filed a false affidavit regarding his income along with his nomination.
A panel of Justices V G Arun and S Manu ruled that columnist Avani Bansal’s complaint regarding the returning officer’s decision could not be considered at this stage as the election process had already begun, and an order could not be issued.
The Congress had submitted a complaint to the Election Commission against Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Entrepreneurship, Skill Development, Electronics & Technology, Jal Shakti, for allegedly giving false information about his financial status in his election affidavit as he had declared “Rs 680 as taxable income” for 2021-2022.
Alleging infirmities in the values of assets, investments and income, the Congress said this was a violation of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and the Indian Penal Code. The Election Commission then asked the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to verify the poll affidavit submitted by Chandrasekhar.
While rejecting the PIL plea, the high court considered the Election Commission’s submission that the returning officer had acted upon the complaint by forwarding it to the Income Tax Department.
On the allegation that his affidavit did not reflect his actual income, Chandrasekhar had said, “I have been in public life for several years, and my income is derived only from MP/minister salary, perks, and interest/dividend from savings/investments. In the year 2021-2022, my taxable income was sharply reduced because of losses incurred during the Covid period.”
Chandrasekhar is up against three-time sitting MP Shashi Tharoor of the Congress and CPI’s Pannyan Raveendran in Thiruvananthapuram, which goes to poll along with all the other 19 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala on April 26.