He was charged with providing false information on immovable assets and bank statements in the affidavit submitted to the election commission in 2019.
Published Sep 01, 2023 | 7:23 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 01, 2023 | 11:18 PM
Hassan MP Praveen Revanna
The Karnataka High Court on Friday, 1 September, declared as “null and void” the election of the JD(S)’s Prajwal Revanna from the Hassan Lok Sabha seat.
Revanna, the grandson of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda and the JD(S)’s lone member in the Lok Sabha, was disqualified for submitting a false affidavit while filing his nomination papers in 2019.
A single-judge bench, comprising Justice K Natarajan, also disqualified him from contesting polls for the next six years.
The high court disqualified Prajwal based on petitions filed by the then BJP candidate, A Manju, and a voter in Hassan, Advocate Devarajegowda. Incidentally, Manju is now a JD(S) MLA from Arkalgud.
The high court also served notice on Holenarasipura MLA and Prawal’s father HD Revanna in connection with the case.
First-time parliamentarian Prajwal defeated Manju by a margin of 1.41 lakh votes in 2019. Soon after the election, Manju and Devarajegowda filed separate petitions, accusing the Hassan MP of providing false information regarding his immovable assets and bank statements in the affidavit submitted to the Election Commission.
The petitions cited several malpractices as well as non-declaration of assets. The petitioners claimed that Prajwal showed the value of the Chennambika Conventional Hall as ₹14 lakh, where it was worth at least ₹5 crore.
It was also alleged that Prajwal declared a bank balance of ₹5 lakh despite having ₹48 lakh in his account. He was also accused of holding assets through benamis and committing income-tax fraud.
“Both the election petitions filed by the petitioners are allowed in part. The election of the returned candidate, Respondent No 1 namely MP Prajwal Revanna, Constituency 16, Hassan (General), having been declared as returned candidate dated 23.5.2019 is hereby declared as null and void,” Justice Natarajan said.
The high court, however, dismissed the prayer of the petitioners to declare Manju as the winning candidate as he himself had been “involved in corrupt practices”.
“The prayer of the petitioners in both cases to declare A Manju as a returned candidate is rejected in view of the findings that he himself (is) involved in corrupt practices,” the court ruled.
The bench also directed the Election Commission to initiate action against Prajwal’s father HD Revanna (MLA and former minister) and brother Suraj Revanna (MLC) for election malpractice.
“HD Revanna and Suraj Revanna are named in the complaint under the Representation of People’s Act for having committed corrupt practice at the time of election and also A Manju, who is also involved in corrupt practice. Election Commission to issue notice and comply with Conduct of Election Process Rules,” the court said.
Sources close to Prajwal said he would challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court.
Devarajegowda said that Prajwal had been proven guilty. “Today’s judgment proves that the rich cannot buy the law. We have filed a petition alleging that Hassan MP had submitted a false affidavit to the Election Commission in October 2019,” he told reporters.
“Besides invalidating his (Lok Sabha) membership, the court also ordered restrained him from contesting elections for the next six years,” he said.
The advocate said Manju, who initially moved the petition, went for an out-of-court settlement and pledged allegiance to the JD(S).
“Many people doubted whether the case would stand or not. I want to clarify that it was me who filed the petition and continued to fight in the court. I have finally won the case,” he added.
Manju, meanwhile, expressed satisfaction over the outcome. “The high court has served justice. I am satisfied,” he said.
“I was with another party when I filed the case, and I needed to fight against the JD(S) MP,” he said.
Responding to Devarajegowda’s statement that he waged a lone battle, Manju said, “I contended that he submitted a false bank statement. Whereas Devarajegowda contended that the Hassan MP submitted a false affidavit relating to properties.”
“I cannot erase this judgment. The party (JD(S)) will decide on further legal action. I will speak to HD Deve Gowda and HD Revanna on the matter,” the MLA added.
(With PTI inputs)
