Degree row: Technicality gives Smriti Irani an edge

NEW DELHI: Notwithstanding the interest generated by a Delhi court taking cognizance of a complaint filed against Smriti Irani for furnishing wrong information in her poll affidavits regarding her educational qualifications, the HRD minister may not find herself on the wrong side of the law, say lawyers.

Given that Irani had wrongly stated her qualification as BA in an affidavit filed in 2004, while correctly stating in later affidavits filed in 2011 and 2014 that she had only done the first year of her BCom course, the only "false declaration" case made out against her would be under Section 177 of IPC.

This is because Form 26 -- the prescribed format for a poll affidavit that requires a candidate to declare his/her assets and liabilities, criminal antecedents and educational qualifications -- was introduced only in August 2012 under Section 33A of the Representation of the People Act. Any false declaration in the affidavit (Form 26) is an offence under Section 125A of the RP Act, punishable with imprisonment up to six months.


What could work in Irani's favour despite her 2004 poll affidavit "falsely" claiming her to be a graduate is the one-year limitation period under IPC for filing a complaint, a senior lawyer told TOI. This essentially means that the complaint should have been filed by 2005 to be maintainable, he added.

Irani, in the three separate poll affidavits filed along with her nomination papers in 2004 (when she fought the Lok Sabha poll from Chandni Chowk), 2011 (for Rajya Sabha) and 2014 (when she contested from Amethi) had stated her qualifications to be BA, BCom-Part I and BCom-Part I respectively.

Prior to the amendment to Form 26 in August 2012, the election affidavit to be filed by a candidate was given in the format prescribed by the EC. In case of complaints about false statements or concealing of information in the said affidavit, the complaints were to be filed before the returning officer, who if satisfied about its merits, would file a complaint before the competent court under Section 177 of IPC read with Section 195 of CrPC.

However, after August 2012, the affidavit is to be filed in Form 26 under Section 33A of RP Act, ensuring that any false declaration is covered under Section 125A of the RP Act. Under Section 125A, there is no stipulation that the complaints have to be made by the returning officer. Therefore, it is open to any aggrieved person to move a petition before an appropriate court.