Karnataka High Court declares as null and void election of Prajwal Revanna from Hassan Lok Sabha constituency

The High Court of Karnataka on Friday, September 1, declared as null and void the election of Prajwal Revanna of Janata Dal (Secular) from Hassan Lok Sabha constituency in the general elections held in May 2019 for indulging in corrupt practices during the poll process.

The High Court of Karnataka on Friday, September 1, declared as null and void the election of Prajwal Revanna of Janata Dal (Secular) from Hassan Lok Sabha constituency in the general elections held in May 2019 for indulging in corrupt practices during the poll process.

Meanwhile, the Court also rejected the plea of A. Manju, who had then unsuccessfully contested in the elections from the Bhartiya Janata Party, to declare him as a returned candidate in place of Mr. Prajwal. The Court said that it cannot declare Mr. Manju as the returned candidate as he too had indulged in corrupt practices.

Justice K. Natarajan delivered the verdict while partly allowing the petitions filed in 2019 by Mr. Manju and one G. Devarajegowda, a voter from the Hassan parliamentary constituency. The detailed order copy of the judgement is yet to be released by the Court. 

Mr. Prajwal, the grandson of JD(S) national president and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and son of former Karnataka minister H. D. Revanna, is the only MP from JD(S) in the Lok Sabha.

Initially, the High Court on January 17, 2020 had dismissed the petition filed by Mr. Manju on the technical ground that he had not filed mandatory affidavit in the prescribed format enumerating the instances of corrupt practices that he had alleged Mr. Prajwal of committing during the election process. 

Again, the High Court on January 31, 2020 had dismissed the petition filed by Mr. Devarajegowda by stating that he had not complied with a mandatory procedure prescribed in the law while filling the petition. Though Mr. Devarajegowda had rectified the error at a later stage, the Court had refused to entertain the petition by observing that rectification should have been done within 45 days from the date of election of the returned candidate.