BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court has quashed the order of conviction and sentence of Uday Garudachar, BJP MLA from Chikpet assembly constituency.
He was sentenced to two months simple imprisonment with a penalty of Rs 10,000 by a magistrate special court in 2022 for not disclosing the criminal cases pending against him in the affidavit filed along with nomination papers in 2018.
This order was confirmed by an additional city civil and sessions court designated to try cases against elected representatives, in 2023, by dismissing the appeal filed by him against the conviction and sentence for the electoral offence punishable under Section 125A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
Following this, Garudachar moved the high court. Hearing the petition filed by him, Justice Krishna S Dixit quashed the order of conviction and sentence. The court noted that not every criminal case against a candidate by registration of First Information Report or by moving a private complaint has to be disclosed in the affidavit when charges have not been framed or cognizance of the offences alleged has not been taken.