Five days after the Election Commission directed Karnataka’s election officials to examine false Form 7 applications and take legal action where required, eight police cases have been registered over alleged attempts to delete voters from electoral rolls.
Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, makes knowingly making a false statement or declaration during the preparation, revision or correction of electoral rolls a punishable offence, carrying up to one year in jail, a fine, or both.
Police can investigate other alleged criminal offences independently. So, if that is in question, the ERO has to take necessary action as per law. These could include allegations of cheating, forgery, impersonation or conspiracy.
People aware of the matter said an EC or ERO complaint is not a blanket legal requirement for every police FIR arising from a Form 7 dispute. State chief electoral officer V Anbukkumar said every Form 7 applicant makes a declaration and that the ERO must act if an inquiry establishes that it was false. “The declaration, as per Section 31, is signed by the objector or the applicant. Home minister Priyank Kharge warned that those who provide false information to the Election Commission through Form 7 could face imprisonment for one year. “BJP workers are submitting Form 7 applications claiming that people have died. A rejected Form 7 application, the officer said, does not automatically amount to a criminal offence. The latest FIR was registered at Jayanagar police station on October 5 after former Jayanagar MLA and Karnataka Pradesh Mahila Congress president Sowmya Reddy complained that 5,698 Form 7 applications had been filed seeking deletion of voters from the constituency. He asserted that the BJP would not be intimidated by police cases against those filing Form 7.
That has been communicated to the EROs, and they will take action,” he said, adding that the eight police cases registered so far were based on complaints by individuals and political workers. Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Kharge said legal provisions would not be invoked without reason. But members of the public have complained saying, ‘I have not died, I am alive,” he said. However, a senior IPS officer said that police investigations can continue independently under criminal provisions cited in individual cases. “But establishing those offences is different from establishing an offence under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act,” the officer said. “Section 31 requires the statement or declaration to be false and the person making it to know or believe that it was false, or not believe it to be true,” the officer said. The complaint said the applications claimed the voters had permanently shifted from Jayanagar.
Meanwhile, BJP state president BY Vijayendra on Tuesday reiterated the party’s allegation that the ECI was being targeted to hide the failures of the Congress government in Karnataka.
