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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'Someone must be held accountable': HC converts civil suit on Goa nightclub tragedy into PIL
Panaji (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Monday converted a civil suit against Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub into a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) saying "someone has to be held accountable" for the tragedy in which 25 people were killed.In a stern observation, Goa bench of the High Court of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Ashish Chavan said the local panchayat had "failed to take suo motu cognisance" of the club and had taken "no action despite complaints."
The division bench directed the Goa government to file a detailed reply on the permissions granted to the nightclub.
The High Court, while fixing January 8 as the next date of hearing, pointed out that commercial operations were continuing in the structure despite it having been served a demolition order.
The original petition was filed after the December 6 tragedy by Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar and Sunil Divkar, the owners of the land on which the nightclub was operating.
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Advocate Rohit Bras de Sa, the lawyer representing the petitioner, was made amicus curiae in the matter and has been asked to file a detailed affidavit in the matter.
In their petition, Amonkar and Divkar highlighted "the alarming pattern of statutory violations that have remained inadequately addressed despite multiple complaints, inspections, show-cause notices, and even a demolition order".
They contended that these violations posed "immediate threats to public safety, ecological integrity, and the rule of law in the state of Goa."
Investigations by multiple agencies into the nightclub fire have revealed various irregularities, including lack of permissions to operate the nightclub.
The Goa police arrested five managers and staff members of the club, while co-owners Gaurav Luthra and Saurabh Luthra have been detained in Thailand after they fled the country.
