PRAMOD TANWAR Vs. STATE ELECTION COMMISSION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present writ petition has been filed challenging the rejection of the petitioner"s nomination by the Returning Officer ("RO")/respondent no.2, for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi ("MCD") Bye-Elections 2025 for the Naraina Ward, with prayer to direct the respondents to accept the nomination of the petitioner.

(2.) Learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that the nomination paper of the petitioner has wrongly been rejected, as all the requisite information was properly disclosed in the nomination paper. The petitioner duly disclosed his assets, and that of his family members. He submits that the petitioner had also duly disclosed cost of the agricultural land at the time of its purchase, owned by his wife. The mere fact that approximate current market value of the agricultural land was not mentioned in the nomination form, cannot be a case of a substantial defect, and that the petitioner ought to have been granted an opportunity to rectify the said defect and should have been allowed to fill the figure in the column against approximate current market value.

(3.) Likewise, it is submitted that non-disclosure of the mature value of the Life Insurance Corporation ("LIC") Policy in the name of the petitioner"s daughter, cannot be a reason for rejection of the nomination form. The petitioner had clearly given the LIC Policy Number. However, the petitioner was not aware of its mature value, as the mature value of a policy is not known, till the policy actually matures. For this purpose, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner relies upon a letter dtd. 10/11/2025, issued by the LIC, wherein, it is stated that since the concerned Policy of the petitioner has not attained any paid-up value, its surrender value as on date is 'nil".