SC Quashes Petition Against DMK MP Kanimozhi's Election In 2019 Lok Sabha Polls

The Supreme Court said, "The election petition is dismissed. Appeal is allowed."

The SC was hearing a petition by Kanimozhi challenging a Madras High Court order refusing to dismiss the petition against her (File Photo)

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the petition challenging the election of DMK MP Kanimozhi from Thoothukudi constituency in 2019. However, the apex court allowed the petitioner an appeal in the case.

According to PTI, the SC was hearing a petition by Kanimozhi challenging a Madras High Court order refusing to dismiss the petition against her. Earlier, a voter Sanathana Kumar challenged Kanimozhi’s election on the grounds that she failed to mention her husband's Permanent Account Number (PAN) in her election affidavit.

On Thursday, when the case came up for hearing before a bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi, the Court said, "The election petition is dismissed. Appeal is allowed."

"In that view of the matter, election petition...filed by the respondent-election petitioner deserves to be dismissed, and is accordingly dismissed. The impugned judgment of the High Court is set aside. The appeals stand allowed accordingly," said the top court.

The court said that neither objection nor lapse was found by returning officer during scrutiny of the nomination paper and the affidavit in form 26 furnished by the appellant-returned candidate. The court said that there was not any non-compliance of section 33 or rule 4A of the Rules (Rule 4A of the Conduct of Election Rules 1961).

The court said that it was obligatory on the part of the respondent-election petitioner to state the PAN number of the appellant-returned candidate's spouse which was stated as suppressed.

The petitioner should have also furnished how the other details mentioned about her husband in the said Form No. 26 were incomplete or false, the court said.

Justice Trivedi, who authored the judgment on behalf of the bench, said: "Mere bald and vague allegations without any basis would not be sufficient compliance of the requirement of stating material facts in the election petition. As well settled not only positive statements of facts, even a positive statement of negative fact is also required to be stated, as it would be a material fact constituting a cause of action."