By IANS
Chennai : The Election Commission's move to prosecute former Tamil Nadu chief minister and AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalitha for tendering false information to authorities while filing nomination papers for the 2001 assembly polls faces a legal conundrum.
The commission has admitted that she cannot be prosecuted within the ambit of Section 125A (ii) of the Representation of the People Act (RPA) because the relevant part of the legislation came into force in 2002 – almost a year after she filed four nominations, which is not allowed.
"We are moving the (Madras) High Court and requesting it to delete the paragraph saying she can also be prosecuted under Section 125A (ii)," said Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Naresh Gupta.
The Election Commission, however, contended that she could still be prosecuted, as directed by the high court, under Section 177 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for filing false information before a public servant.
Jayalalitha has refrained from commenting on the issue.
A division bench of the high court earlier this month recommended Jayalalitha's prosecution under the above sections, after faulting her for claiming before two returning officers that she was filing nomination only in two constituencies whereas she had filed in four.
A conviction can lead to a six-month prison term, with or without fine.
The Election Commission counsel told the division bench of Justices Dharma Rao Elipe and S. Palanivelu Wednesday that a petition would be filed shortly.
Gupta said that filing of formal complaints might take some time, as the returning officers who had served in Bhuvanagiri and Pudukkottai constituencies where the AIADK leader had filed the extra set of nominations were yet to be traced.
"They may even have retired or posted in some other place. We will have to find them and get them to file the complaint," Gupta said.
The case entails Jayalalitha's filing nomination papers in four assembly constituencies – Andipatti, Krishnagiri, Pudukkottai and Bhuvanagiri – for the 2001 polls. Her papers had been rejected in all four, as she had then been convicted in a land deal corruption case and was therefore disqualified from contesting.
That apart, she was also said to have violated Section 33 (7)(b) of RPA, which explicitly states that no candidate can contest in more than two constituencies.
The matter was brought before the high court by DMK MP C. Kuppusamy alleging that Jayalalitha had suppressed information.
The bench had allowed the writ petition on June 13 saying that there were sufficient materials on record to initiate action against the former chief minister.