A bench of justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan issued notice to Babu, asking for his response. This plea challenges a April 11 order by the Kerala High Court, which had rejected Swaraj’s claim, stating he failed to prove that Babu engaged in corrupt practices.
NEW DELHI: Today (8th July): The Supreme Court of India agreed to hear a plea by CPI(M) leader M Swaraj seeking to invalidate the election of Congress leader K Babu from the Thrippunithura seat in the 2021 assembly polls.
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Swaraj alleges that Babu used the picture of Lord Ayyappa in voting slips, which he claims is a corrupt practice under the Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1951.
A bench of justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan issued notice to Babu, asking for his response. This plea challenges a April 11 order by the Kerala High Court, which had rejected Swaraj’s claim, stating he failed to prove that Babu engaged in corrupt practices.
Swaraj contends that Babu used the image and name of Lord Ayyappa in voting slips distributed in Thrippunithura, arguing that this use of religious symbols to solicit votes constitutes a corrupt practice. The high court acknowledged that soliciting votes using a deity’s name is a corrupt practice but found no evidence to support Swaraj’s claims.
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The High court noted that the oral testimonies of a few witnesses were uncorroborated and vague, casting doubt on their reliability. Additionally, it questioned why no complaint was made to the Election Commission’s cVIGIL portal, despite other complaints being filed there by Swaraj. The High court dismissed Swaraj’s explanation that he filed a police complaint instead.
“That answer is unsatisfactory, as action was indeed taken on other complaints filed by the petitioner (Swaraj) through cVIGIL.”
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