REGISTERED No. D. (D)-72
The Gazette of India
EXTRAORDINARY
PART II-Section 3-Sub-section (ii)
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY
No. 374] NEW DELHI, THURSDAY, AUGUST 3, 1978/SRAVANA 12, 1900
Separate paging is given to this part in order that it may be filed as a separate compilation
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475 GI/78
^ T f TE GAZETTE OF INDIA : EXTRAORDINARY [I>ART I I- 5>(, . ( \MINISTRY OF LAW, JUSTICE & COMPANY AFFAIRS
(Legislative Department)
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 3rd August, 1978
S.O. 4HH(E).—The following Order made by the President
is published for general information.
ORDER
Whereas Shri Valal Nngaraj, the returned candidate from the Chiimarajpet Constituency in Bangalore City (Karnataka) at the general election held in March, 1972 to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, has incurred disqualification for a period of Nix veun under section SA of the Representation of the People "Act, 1951, as it SLOOJ immediately before the com- mencement of the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 1975 (40 of 1975);
And whereas the said period of disqualification has not
expired ;
And whereas the said Shri Vatal Nogaraj has submitted a petition to the President under article 192(.l)(b) of the Consti- tution read wjlh section KA(2) of the Representation of the People Act. 1951 for the removal of the disqualification for the uncxpired portion of the said period ;
And whereas ihe President has consulted the Election Com- mission on the said petition in pursuance .of article 192(2) of the Constitution read with section 8A of the Representation of (he People Acl, 1951 ;
And whereas the Election Commission is of opinion (vide annexure) thai circumstance:; exist which would justify the removal of the disqualification incurred by the petitioner for the unexpired portion of ihe period of six years;
Now, therefore, I, Ncclam Sanjiva Reddy, President of India, in exercise of the power conferred on me under article 192 (2) of the Constitution raid with section SA of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 do hereby decide that the disqualification for a period of six years incurred by Shri Vatal Nagaraj be removed for the unexpired portion of the said period.
NEELAM SANJIVA REDDY, President of India
Rashtrapati Bhavan,
New Delhi, (he 27th July. 1978
ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA
BEFORE THE ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA
IN THE MATTER OF : Petition under Article 192 of the Constitution read with section 8A(2) and (3) of the Representation 01 the People Act, 1951 of Shri Vatal Nagaraj in regard to the disqualification grounds of corrupt practices.
This is a petition under Article 192(1) (b) of the Cons- titution read with section 8A(2) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 ,to the President of Tndia filed by Shri Vatal Nagaraj for the removal of the disqualification incurred by him as a result of the findings of corrupt practices at the general election held in March, 1972 to the Legislative Assembly of Karnataka from Chamarajapet Assembly Cons- tituency in Bangalore City.
2. This is the fifth pelilion of the petitioner made to the President, The petition has been referred to the Election Commission under Article 192(2) of the Constitution read with section 8A(3) of the Representation of the People Act,
3, The earlier petitions of Shri Vatal Nagaraj for the re- moval of disqualification were rejected by the President on the advice of the Election Commission.
< 4. It is unnecessary to recapitulate here in detail the var- - tous corrupt practices found to have been committed by Shri Nagaraj and the reasons given in the opinion tendered by
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the Commission on 13th April, 1976 for the rejection ot the petition of Shri Nagaraj. It is sufficient to suy that the corrupt practices of which Shri Nagaraj had been found guilty related to section 123(2), 123(3), 123(3A) and 123(6) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
The six year period of disqualification for the commission of these corrupt practices was to be reckoned from 28th November 1973, i.e., the date on which the stay earlier gran- ted by the High Court stood vacated.
5. Both in this petition and the written and oral submis- sions made by the counsel on behalf of the petitioner, the following grounds have been urged for the removal of the disqualification of Shri Nagaraj for the unexpired portion :—
(i) The petitioner has been prevented from contesting two general elections, one to the House of the Peo- ple held in March, 1977 and the other to the Legis- lative Assembly of Karnataka held in February, 1978;
(ii) He has already suffered a major portion of the period of disqualification, i.e., 4 years and 5 months and the unexpired period of his disqualification is for about only 1 year and 7 months. In any case, his disqualification will be automatically removed before the next general election to the House of the People and to th: Legislative Assembly of Karnataka.
(iii) After the substitution of the new section 8A of the Representation of the People Act, by the 1951 by the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 1975, a person found guilty of a corrupt practice by an order under section 99 of the R. P. Act, 1951 will not automatically incur disqualification for a period of 6 years as before, and the question of his dis- qualification has to be referred to the President for his determination as to whether such a person shall be disqualified and if so, for what period. Though the case of the petitioner is not covered under sub- section (1) of the existing section 8A, because he had already incurred disqualification for a period of 6 years under the then existing provisions of the Act, the President and the Election Commission may be justified in taking into account the less rigid provisions in the amended section 8A(1) of the Act and exercise their discretion in favour of the petitioner for the removal of the disqualifi- cation.
(iv) The petitioner is a social worker and a young man of 35 years. He has been in active politics for the last 14 years and won the elections held in ,1967 and 1972, In the vacancy caused by his election being set aside after 1972 general election, the candidate supported by the petitioner was declared elected.
(v) After he has been found guilty of the various corrupt practices, he has not given any room for comp- laint that he is promoting feelings of enmity or hatred against the Tamil-speaking people either by way of pamphlet or otherwise. Though he did not admit before the High Court that he indulged in appeals having the effect of promoting feelings of enmity or hatred against the Tamil-speaking people, yet as an index of his bonafides, the petitioner gave an undertaking before the Commission that he shall not associate himself with any campaign or appeals having the effect of promoting feelings of enmity or hatred among people on ground of community or language as prohibited by the law, but shall carry on only social, cultural and political activi- ties on sound and healthy traditions for the good of the country consistent with the well-being and pros- perity of the people of Karnataka.
45 0 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA : EXTRAORDINARY [PAKT II—Sec. 3(ii)]6. In examining the various grounds urged before the
Commission as enumerated above, It must be pointed at the outset that the Commission would not go into the actual findings and test them with reference to the evidence discussed by the High Court and the Supreme Court. The Commission cannot sit in judgment over the findings of the High Court and the Supreme Court which must be taken as they are for our purpose. The Commission will have to see only whether there are any mitigating circumstances in the case of Shri Vatal Nagaruj for the removal of the disqualification for the nnexpiied portion because of the events that followed the rejection of his earlier petitions.
7. The basic idea of imposing disqualification on the ground of corrupt practices for a period of 6 years seems to be that a person found guilty of any such corrupt prac- tice at a genernl election should not be allowed to contest ut a subsequent general election which is normally due after a period of 5 years. Having regard to this consideration, the petitioner who has suffered a disqualification for a period of 4 years and 7 months so far has been prevented from contesting a general election to the House of the People held in March, 1977, a general election to the Legislative Assembly of Karnataka in February, 1978 and also election to the Rajya Sabha in March, 1978. The petitioner is a young man and a successful politician, having won the elec- tions held in 1967 and 1972. He had already paid a heavy price as a result of the earlier findings of the Court and thereby he has been adequately punished.
8. For the above reasons, under Article 192(2) of the Constitution read with section 8A(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, 1 hereby tender my opinion to the President that the disqualification incurred by the petitioner, Shri Vatal Nagaraj, may be removed with effect from the date of the decision of the President under the said pro- visions.
Sd/-
S. L. SHAKDHER, Chief Election Commissioner of India
[No. F. 7(24)/78-Leg. II]
S. HARIHARA IYER, Secy.
New Delhi, 14lh April, 1978.