In a setback for Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ahead of the Assembly polls, the Supreme Court on Tuesday revived a criminal complaint that he failed to furnish details of two pending criminal cases in his 2014 election affidavit and asked the trial court to consider the case afresh.
However, the SC verdict that quashed the Bombay High Court’s May 3, 2018 order which gave Fadnavis a clean chit will not come in the way of his contesting the October 21 elections. The verdict that sparked demands from the Opposition NCP for the resignation of Fadnavis came on a day when the BJP announced its list of 125 candidates which included the CM, who will seek a consecutive fifth term from Nagpur South West.
Union Minister and RPI(A) leader Ramdas Athawale came to the defence of Fadnavis, saying he has an unblemished track record and will come out clean.
Setting aside the order of the HC that held Fadnavis did not deserve to be tried for the alleged offences under the provision of the Representation of the People (RP) Act, an SC Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi took into account the “clear averment” made in the complaint that the BJP leader had “knowledge of the two cases against him”, which was not mentioned in the affidavit filed along with his nomination papers.
Section 125A of the RP Act deals with the penalty for “filing false affidavit” and says that if a candidate or his proposer fails to furnish or gives false or conceals any information in his nomination paper on issues like pending criminal cases then the person may be awarded six months jail term or fine or both.
“....We unhesitatingly arrive at the conclusion that the order of the trial court upheld by the high court by the impugned judgment and order dated May 3, 2018 is legally not tenable and the same deserves to be set aside which we hereby do,” said the bench also comprising justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose in its 28-page judgement.
The top court allowed the appeal filed by Satish Ukey, an advocate who had filed a criminal complaint against Fadnavis before a magisterial court in Nagpur seeking registration of a case against him under section 125-A of the RP Act, which deals with penalty for filing false affidavit by a candidate.
“The complaint of the appellant (Ukey) will be considered afresh by the trial court from the stage where it was interdicted by the order dated May 30, 2016,” the bench said.
In a statement released in Mumbai, the Chief Minister’s Office(CMO) said the verdict has no bearing on Fadnavis continuing as public representative or to contest the elections.