Latest news with #RepresentationofthePeopleActof1951
The Hindu
28-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
TMC (M) moves Madras High Court to condone delay in filing monetary contribution reports before Election Commission
Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) has moved Madras High Court seeking a direction to Election Commission of India (ECI) to condone the delay on the part of the party in filing reports regarding monetary contributions received by it during the financial years 2018-19 and 2019-20. A summer vacation Bench of Justices Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy and Justice T.V. Thamilselvi on Wednesday permitted ECI standing counsel Niranjan Rajagopalan to take notice on behalf of the commission and obtain necessary instructions by June 18, 2025. Making his preliminary submissions on Wednesday, the counsel said there was no provision in the Representation of the People Act of 1951 empowering the ECI to condone the delay in filing the contribution report and hence the commission had on May 13, 2025 rejected the petitioner's plea. He also said the failure to submit the contribution reports on time does not entail consequences such as the party not being able to contest elections. The only consequence of such failure was that the contribution would become taxable and the party would have pay tax with penalty, he added. Filing an affidavit on behalf of TMC(M), its president G.K. Vasan said the party was unable to file the contribution report for the financial year 2018-19 on time due to confusion in the place where it had to be filed and the 2019-20 report could not be filed on time because of COVID-19. The belated filing of the reports and ECI's refusal to condone the delay in filing the reports had led to the Income Tax department denying tax exemption for the contributions and consequently raising a demand for ₹66.76 lakh for 2018-19 and ₹1.07 crore for 2019-20, the petitioner said. Claiming that the delay in filing the contribution reports was neither intentional nor deliberate, the petitioner sought a direction to the ECI to condone the delay in filing the contribution reports as mandated under Section 29C(3) of the Representation of the Poeple Act of 1951.
Indian Express
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
High Court orders BJP's Anta MLA to surrender in 2005 revolver threat case
The Rajasthan High Court on Friday directed BJP MLA Kanwarlal Meena to surrender immediately in connection with a 2005 case in which he was convicted of threatening a bureaucrat with a revolver. The court upheld his 2020 conviction and sentence handed down by an appellate court. The HC upholding Meena conviction also threatens the latter's Assembly membership; as per Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act of 1951, conviction of a lawmaker for an offence with a two-year sentence or more leads to disqualification from the House. Meena, a two-term BJP legislator, had initially been acquitted by a trial court but was later convicted in December 2020. He had then filed a criminal revision petition in the HC against his appellate court conviction which found him found guilty under IPC Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant), 506 (criminal intimidation), and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. He was sentenced to three years' rigorous imprisonment for the last two charges and two years for IPC 353, to be served concurrently. Justice Uma Shankar Vyas, while dismissing Meena's revision petition, noted that the conviction was 'in accordance with the facts and law' and based on 'strong evidence.' The court directed him to surrender before the trial court or face a non-bailable warrant. The court said that crimes, such as the one by Meena, 'seriously affect the law-and-order situation and create a feeling of insecurity among the common people and public servants and their morale falls.' Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully said the HC's decision is 'welcome,' while hoping that Meena's 'membership will immediately be revoked due to the sentence exceeding two years.' The case pertains to February 2005, when Ramniwas Mehta, then a Rajasthan Administrative Services (RAS) officer and posted as Sub Divisional Officer, Aklera, was informed of locals in Manohar Thana, Jhalawar, blocking the road to demand an up-sarpanch re-poll. When Mehta and others reached the spot, Meena, who arrived with 6-7 men in a vehicle about half an hour later, took out a revolver and allegedly aimed it at Mehta's head asking him to announce a re-poll within two minutes or get killed instead. Mehta, as per records, told Meena that, 'a revolver can kill but not enforce a re-poll.' Despite the presence of senior police officials, Meena damaged recording equipment — to remove traces of his actions — and left the scene. At the time, he already had 15 criminal cases against him and was not yet an elected representative. Subsequently, the District Magistrate asked the Superintendent of Police to lodge an FIR, who then directed the concerned SHO and an FIR under several sections of the IPC, PDPP and the Arms Act was lodged. Key testimonies came from Mehta, IAS probationer Pritam B. Yashwant, and Tehsildar Ramkumar, while other witnesses mostly turned hostile. Meena was arrested three years after the incident and released on bail the same day. His lawyers argued that the case was politically motivated and pointed to inconsistencies in witness statements. Advocate Manish Gupta confirmed they plan to challenge the HC order in the Supreme Court via a Special Leave Petition. Meena first won election from Manohar Thana in 2013 and was re-elected from Anta, Baran District in 2023. Meanwhile, Mehta is now an IAS officer and serves as Secretary, Rajasthan Public Service Commission, Ajmer.
