The hearing on an order of the sessions court which refused to initiate action against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly filing a false affidavit at the time of 2012 Gujarat Assembly elections was adjourned by the Gujarat High Court to July 3 by the acting Chief Justice V M Sahai
Sahai noted that it was a key issue that the petitioner Nishant Verma’s original application had been made within the stipulated time.
The petitioner’s lawyer, advocate K R Koshti, had sought more time for preparation after which the matter was adjourned. Koshti said that his client wanted to engage a senior counsel to argue the case.
A member of Aam Aadmi Party, Verma challenged the February 2015 order of the sessions court that rejected his application. He sought action against Modi for not mentioning his wife’s name in the 2012 election affidavit.
A magistrate had dismissed Verma’s application in June last year on grounds of delay in filing the application.
Koshti said, during the arguments today, that Modi had left the column about ‘spouse’ blank in the affidavit when he filed the nomination in November 2012. But for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Modi had mentioned his wife’s name in the affidavit and disclosed the earlier omission.
Koshti argued that the magistrate agreed that there had been an offence but still rejected the application on the grounds of delay.
To which Justice Sahai replied,
If this (plea) is time-barred then the order of the courts (sessions and magisterial) is illegal and if it is not time-barred, then the case is over.
– Chief Justice V M Sahai
Verma maintains that under section 125(A)(3) of the Representation of People Act, Modi committed an offence by not disclosing facts about his marital status in 2012.
Section 125 A(3) deals with concealing information in election affidavit and provides for upto six months’ jail term.
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