DR. GOVIND SINGH Vs. JYOTIRADITYA M. SCINDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Instant Election Petition under Sec. 80, 100 (1) (b) and (d) and 123 of the Representation of People Act, 1951 (herein referred to as "Act of 1951") had been filed by the election petitioner Dr. Govind Singh challenging the candidature of Respondent No.1 Jyotiraditya M. Scindiya, as returned candidate of Bhartiya Janta Party from State of Madhya Pradesh, in the Biennial Elections to the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) in the parliamentary elections held on 19/6/2020. The said elections are put to challenge on the ground that while submitting nomination paper along with the affidavit, returned candidate i.e. Respondent no.1 had not disclosed particulars or information regarding registration of an FIR lodged against him and others vide crime no.176/2018, on 27/9/2018 at Police Station Shyamla Hills, Bhopal for commission of offences punishable under Ss. 465, 468, 469, 471, 472, 474 & 120- B of IPC.

(2.) Brief facts of the case: Election Commission of India had issued a "Press Note" no. ECI/PN/26/2020 dtd. 25/2/2020 that the term of office of 55 Members of Rajya Sabha elected from 17 States is due to expire in the month of April, 2020 and in lieu of that the Commission notified the election program in respect of Biennial Elections to the Council of State of Madhya Pradesh along with other states. The 'Press Note' was uploaded by the Election Commission on its site having web address 'eci.gov.in.'. As per the said notification, the election was scheduled to be held as under: <IMG>JUDGEMENT_108_LAWS(MPH)2_2024_1.jpg</IMG>

(3.) Pursuant to the 'Press Note' dtd. 25/2/2020, the Parliamentary Bulletin of Rajya Sabha dtd. 6/3/2020 No.59830 was released which read as, "....Members are informed that the Election Commission of India vide their notification no.318/CS-Multi/2020(1) dated 6th of March, 2020, have fixed the program for Biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal....". The said Parliamentary Bulletin was also thereupon uploaded on the official website of the Election Commission.