‘This will seal my fate’: Devendra Fadnavis to SC on plea to review verdict on affidavit

In its judgement last year, the apex court had set aside the Bombay High Court order which gave a clean chit to Fadnavis in the case.

Former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to review its judgement of October last year in which the court asked the BJP leader to face trial for allegedly failing to furnish details of pending criminal cases against him in his 2014 poll affidavit.

Fadnavis, through his lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, said that he did not give any false information and was wrongly prosecuted.

“This will seal my fate. It is an important question as it affects Article 21 (of the Constitution). This is a matter which requires a re-look,” Rohatgi told the three-judge bench on behalf of Fadnavis, according to news agency PTI.

PTI further reported that Fadnavis told the court the issue will have very far reaching consequences for other candidates fighting elections and the top court needs to re-examine its October 1, 2019 decision. “What if cognisance was taken in an offence yesterday and I file my poll affidavit tomorrow?” asked Rohatgi.

Fadnavis made the submission that the provisions under Section 33(A) of the Representation of Peoples Act (RPA) were wrongly invoked against him since he did not hide any information.

“I have not given any false information in my form. The concealment of information as alleged is liable for prosecution under some other law. But not under the section I have been prosecuted under,” Fadnavis told the bench of justices Arun Mishra, Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose.

In its judgement last year, the apex court had set aside the Bombay High Court order which gave a clean chit to Fadnavis and held that he did not deserve to be tried for the alleged offence under the RPA.

During arguments, Rohatgi said that a candidate can be criminally prosecuted for violating the two conditions of not disclosing cases where charges have been framed and where he or she has been convicted. The court reserved its order on Tuesday.

The two cases of alleged cheating and forgery were filed against Fadnavis in 1996 and 1998 but charges were not framed.