Kerala HC rejects plea for direction to EC to pass order on complaint against Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Kochi | The Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea for directions to the Returning Officer of Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency to pass a reasoned order on two complaints which sought rejection of BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar's nomination for allegedly filing a false affidavit.

A vacation bench of Justices V G Arun and S Manu was of the opinion that since Chandrasekhar's nomination has been accepted, "no purpose will be served" by directing the Returning Officer (RO) to pass an order on the complaints.

The court also agreed with the contention of the Election Commission (EC) that even with regard to an allegation of improper acceptance of a nomination, the remedy was to file an election petition.

"The writ petition is hence dismissed with the above observation," the bench said.

The petition had been jointly filed by Madhya Pradesh native Avani Bansal and Karnataka resident Renjith Thomas who had made separate complaints to the RO alleging that Chandrasekhar's nomination and the accompanying affidavit were in violation of the relevant provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.

They had contended before the court that there was a "deliberate omission" on the part of the RO in taking a decision on their respective complaints.

They had claimed that the omission also amounted to a violation of the Representation of the People Act,1951.

The petitioners had urged the court to direct the RO to pass a reasoned order on their complaints within two days and communicate the same to them.

Chandrasekhar is facing off against Congress leader Shashi Tharoor and CPI's Pannyan Raveendran in the Thiruvananthapuram LS seat.

Lok Sabha elections will be held in Kerala on April 26.