False declarations: PIL in high court against BJP candidate in Kerala
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Kochi: Alleging furnishing of false information in an affidavit during nomination, Congress filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Kerala High Court against Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the BJP candidate in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency, The News Minute reported.
The PIL, filed by advocate Avani Bansal and Renjith Thomas, also alleged that the returning officer did not take any action against Rajeev over the matter.
The PIL alleged that Rajeev deliberately suppressed his assets which was a deliberate attempt to misrepresent his financial status. Rajeev did not include most of his assets, including his house, luxury car, private jets and shares in real estate.
The petitioners pointed out that when Rajeev declared his shareholding in four companies worth Rs 6.38 crores, his filing in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs shows the figure as 1,610.53 crores.
Petitioners further said in the PIL that they filed complaints with the Election officer and the Chief Electoral Officer with evidence of the false affidavit, but no action has been taken so far. They commented that the inaction by the polling authorities is a fraud upon the citizens of India, taking away a level playing field for the elections.
The PIL further alleged that Rajeev’s nomination repeatedly violates the provisions of the Representation of People’s Act, 1950, and the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961. With respect to the compendium given by the Election Commission of India’s website, the petitioners appealed to the high court to direct the Election Officer to pass a reasoned order on the complaint within two days.
The case is listed to be heard on Tuesday by a bench of Justices VG Varun and S Manu.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar declared that he had only Rs 680 as income tax returns in the financial year 2021-22. He only owned a bike, which he purchased in 1994 for Rs 10,000, and his profession was social service. Further, he has movable assets worth Rs 9 crore and immovable assets worth Rs 14 crore.
