The Manipur High Court has declared the election of Y Surchandra from Kakching Assembly Constituency in 2017 assembly elections as null and void over non-disclosure of information the election affidavit and has also named M Rameshwar, who secured the second place in the then elections, as the elected Member of Kakching Assembly Constituency.
Justice MV Muralidaran of the High Court of Manipur passed a ruling in this regard on Thursday based on a petition filed by M Rameshwar Singh (48) of Kakching Khullen in Kakching district.
In his petition, Rameshwar claimed that Surchandra has failed to disclose full particulars of his assets and liabilities including those of his dependants and also concealed vital material information in his election affidavits.
During the then scrutiny of nomination papers on February 17, 2017, the petitioner and his election agents raised objections, but the returning officer accepted the nomination of Surchandra and allowed him to contest the election, the petition said.
Surchandra, 65, contested the election as congress candidate and was declared the MLA from Kakching constituency after winning the seat with 11133 votes while Rameshwar got 10,503 votes.
Reacting to the court verdict, Rameshwar said, “I feel good because the judgment shows that no one is above the law of the land.”
{{/usCountry}}Reacting to the court verdict, Rameshwar said, “I feel good because the judgment shows that no one is above the law of the land.”
{{/usCountry}}It may be mentioned that Surchandra who had served as a congress MLA allegedly joined the BJP leading to his disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the constitution as an elected Member ahead of the Rajya Sabha election in June this year. Since then, the seat for Kakching Assembly Constituency had been lying vacant in the 11th Manipur Legislative Assembly.