'Our hands are tied': high court dismisses PIL against BJP candidate

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed against BJP candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram, also a union minister, accusing him of suppressing his assets in the affidavit he filed with his nomination, Live Law reported.

The PIL also alleged that the polling authorities has not taken any action against him after a complaint was registered with them earlier.

The court bench of Justice VG Arun and Justice S Manu said that its "hands are tied" and refused to invoke the writ jurisdiction, saying that the election process has already commenced.

According to the PIL filed by Congress' Avani Bansal, Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar suppressed his financial assets and misrepresented his income in the affidavit. In a deliberate attempt to misrepresent his financial status, Rajeev did not include most of his assets, including his house, luxury car, private jets and shares in real estate.

The petitioners pointed out that when Rajeev declared his shareholding in four companies worth Rs 6.38 crores, his filing in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs shows the figure as 1,610.53 crores.

Petitioners further said in the PIL that they filed complaints with the Election officer and the Chief Electoral Officer with evidence of the false affidavit, but no action has been taken so far. They commented that the inaction by the polling authorities is a fraud upon the citizens of India, taking away a level playing field for the elections.

However, the court orally observed that since the petitioner's complaint to the poll authorities has been forwarded to the Deputy Director of Income Tax for investigation, her grievance of non-consideration of her complaint has been redressed.

Also, the Standing Council for Election Commission of India submitted that a writ petition under Article 226 is not maintainable and the remedy is an election petition.