Ex-PM Deve Gowda's grandson Prajwal Revanna's election declared null and void by Karnataka HC
BENGALURU: In a major setback to the Janata Dal (Secular), the Karnataka High Court on Friday declared the election of Prajwal Revanna as Member of Parliament of Hassan constituency as null and void for indulging in a corrupt practice.
Prajwal Revanna is the grandson of former prime minister and JD(S) supremo HD Devegowda. He is the only candidate from the party to have won the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka in 2019.
Justice K Natarajan pronounced the order which was reserved after a marathon hearing of the two petitions filed by BJP-defeated candidate A Manju, and Sri G Devarajegowda, a voter of the constituency in 2019 questioning the election of Prajwal on April 18, 2019.
The court also declined to declare the petitioner A Manju as a Returned Candidate, saying that he too indulged in a corrupt practice. Manju, who fought the Lok Sabha election against Revanna on a BJP ticket and lost, subsequently joined the JD(S), and is currently an MLA.
The HC also directed the Election Commission to take action against Prajwal's father H D Revanna (MLA and former minister) and brother Suraj Revanna (MLC) for election malpractice. "H D Revanna and Suraj Revanna are named in the complaint under the Representation of People's (RP) Act for having committed corrupt practice at the time of election and also A Manju, who is also involved in corrupt practice. Election Commission to issue notice and comply with Conduct of Election Process Rules," the HC said.
The petitioners had challenged the election of Prajwal on the grounds of non-disclosure of assets and liabilities in the format prescribed by the Election Commission of India while filing nomination papers, which amounts to a corrupt practice. The petitions had cited several examples of malpractices as well.
It was claimed that the Chennambika Conventional Hall was worth at least Rs 5 crore but was declared as worth only Rs 14 lakh by Prajwal. Another example was the bank balance in an account declared as Rs 5 lakh but allegedly having a deposit of Rs 48 lakh.
It was alleged that the MP had several assets in the names of benamis and that he had also committed "income tax fraud".
Speaking to TNIE, senior advocate Prameela Nesargi, representing one of the petitioners, said that Prajwal Revanna suppressed many details including the land he owned, the bank accounts he held, his directorship in a partnership firm, his fixed deposits, his excess expenditure in his affidavit filed along with the nomination paper, which amounts to corrupt practice and hence court declared his election as null and void.
Earlier, one of the petitions was dismissed by the Karnataka High Court on technical grounds. One of the petitioners had moved the Supreme Court which then directed the High Court to conduct the trial.
(With additional inputs from PTI)