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Dasanglu Pul vs Lupalum Kri

Civil Appeal · 2023 INSC 930Decided 19 Oct 2023
Civil Appeal No. 3710 of 2023

Background

Dasanglu Pul, the third wife (per tribal custom) of a deceased sitting MLA from Arunachal Pradesh, won an Assembly election in 2019. Her rival candidate, Lupalum Kri, challenged her win before the Gauhati High Court, arguing that she had improperly failed to disclose her late husband's properties as belonging to her "spouse" in her election nomination affidavit (Form 26), instead marking that column "not applicable." The High Court agreed and declared her election void, holding this was a substantial defect that had materially affected the result, prompting Dasanglu Pul's appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court examined whether the appellant genuinely had any claim to her deceased husband's properties that needed disclosure, given that under her tribe's custom, only the first wife was said to inherit the husband's properties. It noted that although the appellant had once challenged a legal heir certificate issued in favour of the first wife, her own sworn testimony showed this was only a pressure tactic to recover papers for one specific plot she believed was promised to her personally, not a claim over the other disputed properties. Since she had never actually claimed ownership or inheritance rights to the properties in question, the Court held there was no genuine non-disclosure of "her spouse's" property in the legal sense, and therefore no substantial defect in her nomination that could have affected the election result. The High Court's judgment was set aside and the election petition against her was dismissed, restoring her election.

Lesson Learnt

In election law, an affidavit's disclosure requirements about a spouse's property turn on whether the candidate actually has, or claims, an interest in that property: a technical omission does not amount to a "substantial defect" invalidating an election unless it reflects a real, undisclosed stake in the property.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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