The Karnataka High Court dismissed criminal proceedings against two petitioners for purportedly violating election laws via a wedding invitation advocating votes for Prime Minister Modi. Justice Nagaprasanna criticized the filing as “reckless” and “preposterous,” emphasizing that the invitation, printed prior to the election notification, could not be deemed an election pamphlet. The court deemed the actions an abuse of legal process.
Karnataka: The Karnataka High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against two petitioners accused of violating election laws over a wedding invitation card. The card allegedly advocated for votes in favor of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a wedding gift, sparking a legal dispute during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna, presiding over the case, termed the registration of the crime, the investigation, and the filing of the charge sheet as “reckless” and described the proceedings as “preposterous” and an abuse of the legal process.
The controversy started with a complaint filed by a Flying Squad officer during the election season. The complaint alleged that a postscript on a wedding invitation, printed on March 1, 2024, violated Section 127A of the Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1951. The card’s postscript read:
“Voting for Narendra Modi is the gift for my wedding.”
However, the Election Commission notified the election calendar on March 16, 2024—nearly two weeks after the cards were printed. Despite this, the complaint was filed on April 19, 2024, alleging that the postscript constituted election propaganda and violated election laws.
Based on the complaint, police registered a case, investigated, and filed a charge sheet under Section 127A of the RP Act and Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). This led to trial court proceedings against the petitioners.
The petitioners approached the High Court to quash the proceedings, arguing that:
- The RP Act provisions apply only when the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in force, which was not the case when the cards were printed.
- The complaint was filed nearly a month after the MCC’s implementation, raising questions about its legitimacy.
The Karnataka High Court found no basis for the case, emphasizing that a wedding invitation cannot be considered an election pamphlet or poster under Section 127A of the RP Act. The court stated:
“How a wedding invitation card is projected to become an election pamphlet by the complainant or even the police who conducted investigation to file a charge sheet is ununderstandable.”
It further noted that the cards were printed before the election notification and, therefore, were outside the scope of election-related offences. Justice Nagaprasanna remarked:
“If the 1st petitioner who is wanting to get married describes the greatest gift to him is voting for Narendra Modi yet again, long before the notification of calendar of events, it is preposterous, to say the least, as to how the crime itself could have been registered.”
Concluding that the proceedings were unjustified, the court said that:
“Permitting further proceedings against the petitioners would, on the face of it, become an abuse of the process of the law and result in patent injustice.”
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