The Delhi High Court on Tuesday referred to a larger bench the election petition filed by BJP leader Yogender Chandolia challenging the 2020 election of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Vishesh Ravi from the Karol Bagh Assembly constituency.
Justice Subramonium Prasad, while referring the matter, remarked,
“The matter is referred to a larger bench. I am not inclined to agree with the view of the coordinate bench.”
A detailed judgment is awaited.
Chandolia, who contested the 2020 Delhi Assembly election from Karol Bagh on a BJP ticket, had filed an election petition the same year, alleging that Vishesh Ravi made a false declaration regarding his educational qualifications in his nomination affidavit.
According to Chandolia, Ravi’s claim of having passed the Class 10 examination from the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) in 2003 was incorrect and therefore amounted to a false statement under the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
The petitioner sought that the election of Ravi be declared null and void.
In December 2020, the High Court had refused to summarily dismiss Chandolia’s petition. Ravi had argued that the petition failed to disclose any cause of action, but the court disagreed. It observed that the petition contained assertions that the AAP legislator had taken “inconsistent stands” about his educational qualifications.
The court also noted that a false declaration regarding education could fall within the ambit of “corrupt practice” under the Representation of the People Act, warranting a full trial.
With Justice Prasad referring the case to a larger bench due to disagreement with the earlier bench’s view, the legal question around the scope and impact of alleged false declarations in affidavits remains open for adjudication.
The case is likely to attract wider attention given its implications for electoral transparency and the threshold for disqualification under the election law.
