Gwalior, March 9 The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday declared the election of Congress MLA, Mukesh Malhotra, from Vijaypur constituency as "null and void" due to his failure to disclose pending criminal cases during the 2024 by-election.
The Gwalior bench of the HC declared BJP candidate Ramniwas Rawat, who had received the second-highest number of votes, as the "elected MLA" from the seat.
A single bench of Justice GS Ahluwalia has declared the election of Congress MLA Mukesh Malhotra from the Vijaypur assembly constituency in Sheopur district as "null and void" and declared the second-placed BJP candidate, Ramniwas Rawat, as the MLA, the order stated.
Malhotra won the by-election by a margin of 7,364 votes.
Malhotra had concealed pending criminal cases against him in his affidavit submitted during his nomination, leading to the annulment of his election.
In its 72-page order, the HC said, "It is held that Malhotra, by deliberately and knowingly suppressing material information regarding the framing of charges in two pending criminal cases, misled the electorate. Therefore, it is held that such suppression has materially created an impediment in the free exercise of electoral rights, and has deprived the voters of making an informed and advised choice."
This act of suppression has resulted in direct or indirect interference with the free exercise of the right to vote by the electorate, the court said.
It amounts to undue influence, necessitating the declaration of his result as null and void, the HC order said.
"It is made clear that it is not necessary for this court to consider whether the suppression on the part of the respondent No. 1/Mukesh Malhotra has materially affected the election result or not, because it has to be presumed and such question does not arise. Thus, respondent No. 1, Mukesh Malhotra, is held guilty of corrupt practice," the order said.
"Justice GS Ahluwalia has annulled the election of MLA Mukesh Malhotra and declared BJP's Ramniwas Rawat as the MLA from Vijaypur in his place, as he finished second," said Rawat's advocate, MPS Raghuvanshi.
He said the Election Commission will be informed about the decision.
"The Supreme Court has repeatedly stated that whenever an MLA or MP contests an election, they must submit an affidavit disclosing criminal cases against them," Raghuvanshi added.
Rawat told reporters that Malhotra had concealed the information about the pending criminal cases.
Reacting to the judgement, Leader of Opposition in the assembly and Congress MLA Umang Singhar said his party will challenge the decision in the Supreme Court after consulting lawyers and understanding the legal aspects.
"The people of Vijaypur gave the Congress its mandate. The people are still with us. We hope we will get justice from the Supreme Court," Singhar said.
Before the elections, Malhotra was in the BJP, while Rawat was a member of Congress.