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S. Rukmini Madegowda vs The State Election Commission & Ors.

SLP (C) · 2022 INSC 958Decided 14 Sept 2022
SLP (C) No. 7414 of 2021
Uday Umesh Lalit · Indira Banerjee · Ajay Rastogi

Background

The appellant contested and won a 2018 election as Councillor to the Mysore Municipal Corporation from a seat reserved for Backward Class-B (Women), filing a mandatory affidavit of assets as required by the Karnataka State Election Commission's notifications. It later emerged that she had wrongly named her son instead of her husband in the affidavit and had falsely declared that her husband owned no movable or immovable property, when he in fact owned substantial property. An unsuccessful rival candidate filed an election petition alleging corrupt practice; the Trial Court initially dismissed it but, after the High Court remanded the matter for reconsideration in light of Supreme Court precedent on asset disclosure, the Trial Court set aside her election, a decision the Karnataka High Court upheld.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that even though the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act and its Election Rules had no explicit statutory requirement for candidates to disclose their spouse's assets, the State Election Commission's notifications requiring such disclosure were validly issued under its constitutional powers (Article 243-ZA, mirroring Article 324 for national elections), consistent with the Supreme Court's own earlier rulings in Association for Democratic Reforms and Lok Prahari. Since the appellant had accepted and complied with that notification requirement by filing an affidavit, she could not later challenge its validity, and having filed a false affidavit, she could not escape the consequence that a false declaration about assets constitutes "corrupt practice" (specifically "undue influence") under the Act, regardless of whether it actually affected the outcome of the election. The Court rejected the argument that only a lesser penalty (for improper acceptance of nomination) could apply, and dismissed the appeal, upholding disqualification.

Lesson Learnt

Candidates in elections at every level, from Parliament down to municipal bodies, are bound by asset-disclosure requirements even where the specific election law is silent, because the Election Commission (or State Election Commission) can validly fill that gap under its constitutional powers; a false affidavit on assets amounts to corrupt practice and can void an election regardless of the winning margin.

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

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