Bengaluru. The Supreme Court has issued a notice to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on a petition filed against his 2023 election from Varuna seat. The petition has been filed by Shankara, a voter of Varuna area, demanding the following that the election of Siddaramaiah be cancelled. He should be barred from contesting elections for the next six years.
The petitioner has alleged that: The five promises made by the Congress Party in its manifesto during the 2023 Assembly elections are tantamount to bribing the voters. This manifesto was issued with the consent of Siddaramaiah, hence a case of corrupt conduct is made out against him. Not only this, the petitioner has termed these promises as corrupt practices and said that they discriminated against men, which is a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution. 200 units of free electricity to each household, Rs 2,000 per month to each female head, 10 kg food grains per month to each BPL family member, Rs 3,000 per month to unemployed graduates for 2 years, Rs 1,500 per month to diploma holders and free travel in government buses for all women in the state.
Stand of High Court and Supreme Court
Karnataka High Court: In April, the petition was rejected saying that the promises made in the elections do not fall in the category of corrupt practice. Supreme Court (Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta): Initially the bench has expressed its desire to dismiss the petition. However, the court was informed of a pending Tamil Nadu case (S. Subramaniam Balaji vs. Government of Tamil Nadu, 2013) in which a challenge is pending before a three-judge bench on whether similar election promises amount to corrupt practices. For this reason, the Supreme Court allowed hearing in this case also and issued notice to Siddaramaiah and other parties to reply. This case has become an important legal debate between Indian politics and electoral rules. The next hearing of the Supreme Court will decide whether the promises made in the election manifesto can be legally considered a corrupt practice or not.