Reject nomination of candidates for withholding information: Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has directed returning officers to reject nomination papers of those candidates who hold back information about themselves, giving the officers responsible for smooth conduct of elections the power of discretion, much to the discomfiture of political parties. A bench, headed by Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam, said on Friday that a returning officer can “compel a candidate to furnish relevant information” not submitted in the affidavits submitted alongside his nomination papers.

The ruling overturns an earlier order that had termed as “not justified” rejection of nomination papers for submitting wrong information or concealing material information and verification of assets and liabilities after a summary inquiry at the time of scrutiny of papers. “It is the duty of the returning officer to check whether information required is fully furnished at the time of filing of affidavit since such information is very vital for giving effect to the ‘right to know’ of citizens,” the bench said. “If a candidate fails to fill the blanks even after the reminder by the returning officer, the nomination paper is fit to be rejected.”

The court, however, said this will not attract penal consequences as opposed to filing an incorrect or false affidavit, which can attract a jail term of up to six years. “The voter has the elementary right to know full particulars of a candidate who is to represent him in Parliament and assemblies, and such right to get information is universally recognised,” the bench said.

The bench cautioned that the power must be exercised “very sparingly”.The candidate must take the minimum effort to explicitly state ‘nil’ or ‘not applicable’ or ‘not known’ in the columns and not to leave any particulars blank, the court said.