New Delhi: A court here on Saturday dismissed two pleas challenging a MCD councillor’s election for allegedly not disclosing complete facts at the time of filing his nomination, saying it could not be termed as “material suppression” of facts that invites disqualification.

“Though it is a fact that the respondent (the elected candidate) was morally bound to disclose the true and complete facts in his affidavit, but legally there is nothing to show that such an act can be termed as a material suppression to bring it within the ambit of disqualification as provided under provisions of section 9 of the DMC Act,” Additional District Judge (ADJ) Kamini Lau said.

“It is a principle requirement of democracy that citizens should be aware of the credentials of the candidates to the election whose personal and professional lives are even otherwise open to the public scrutiny,” ADJ said.

Rajesh and Jai Prakash, candidates from the BJP and the Congress respectively, had lost to Santosh Kumar, an independent candidate, in MCD polls for ward no-244 held in April five last year.

Challenging Kumar’s election, they had filed petitions alleging that Kumar had concealed material facts and had wrongly furnished details which were false in respect of his personal character and conduct as well as in relation to his candidature.

PTI

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