HC declares BJP Arunachal MLA’s election null & void for concealing info
Lupalum Kri, the Congress candidate who lost to Dasanglu Pul in 2019, moved the high court challenging her win, saying she did not declare her husband’s properties
The Gauhati high court’s Itanagar bench has declared the election of Dasanglu Pul, a ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker in Arunachal Pradesh, null and void under the Representation of People Act for concealing information about her properties in her election affidavit.
Dasanglu Pul, 45, was re-elected from Hayuliang in May 2019 assembly polls. She earlier won the seat in a bye-election in 2016 after her husband and former chief minister Kalikho Pul’s death.
Lupalum Kri, the Congress candidate who lost to Dasanglu Pul in 2019, moved the high court challenging her win, saying she did not declare her husband’s four properties in Mumbai and two in Arunachal Pradesh in her election affidavit. He added her nomination was accepted despite his objections.
“...the respondent/returned candidate [Dasanglu Pul] had not presented her nomination paper in accordance with Section 33 of the Representation of People Act, 1951, and as such the nomination paper of the respondent/returned candidate is liable to be rejected,” the court said on Tuesday.
The court added “improper acceptance” of Dasanglu Pul’s nomination papers “materially affected” the result of her election.
Kri said Dasanglu Pul also did not mention in her affidavit that she held an office of profit as the Arunachal Pradesh Mineral Development and Trading Corporation Limited’s chairperson and director. He added Dasanglu Pul did not submit two affidavits in the prescribed format.
Dasanglu Pul told the court her husband’s first wife was declared the heir to his properties after Kalikho Pul’s death. He added as such she did not make any mention of those properties belonging to her late husband.
Dasanglu Pul said she relinquished her claim over her husband’s properties.
The court said Dasanglu Pul contested the declaration of Kalikho Pul’s first wife as his legal heir. It added when she filed her affidavit, the properties were still in her husband’s name. “Hence, she should have mentioned it in her affidavit.”
The court said it was a “defect of substantial character”.
