Non-disclosure of conviction by candidate renders election void: SC
New Delhi (PTI): The non-disclosure of conviction in a nomination form will lead to the disqualification of an elected candidate, the Supreme Court has said.
A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and A S Chandurkar passed the order on an appeal filed by a former councillor, Poonam, who was unseated from the post as she did not disclose her conviction in a case in the nomination form for the election.
Poonam was unseated from the municipal councillor's post in Nagar Parishad, Bhikangaon, Madhya Pradesh. She was convicted in a cheque bounce case and sentenced to imprisonment for one year with a direction to pay compensation.
Rejecting the petitioner's plea to save her from disqualification, the bench said, "Once it is found that there has been non-disclosure of a previous conviction by a candidate, it creates an impediment in the free exercise of electoral right by a voter."
"A voter is thus deprived of making an informed and advised choice. It would be a case of suppression/non-disclosure by such a candidate, which renders the election void," it said.
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BJP holds protest demanding liquor ban in J-K, police detain leaders briefly
Srinagar (PTI): Police on Friday stopped a protest march of the BJP demanding a complete ban on liquor in Jammu and Kashmir, and detained some party leaders temporarily, officials said.
Scores of BJP leaders and workers assembled near the Ram Munshi Bagh Park here and tried to take out a protest march towards the residence of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah at Gupkar, they said.
They shouted slogans demanding a complete ban on liquor in the Union territory.
However, police stopped the protestors and took some of them into custody outside the CM's residence, the officials said. The police later dispersed the BJP workers peacefully, they added.
