Karnataka High Court dismisses petition challenging election of CM Siddaramaiah from Varuna

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition challenging the 2023 election of Congress leader and incumbent Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramiah from the Varuna constituency [K Shankara v. Sri Siddaramaiah]..Justice Sunil Dutt Yadav pronounced the verdict this afternoon. The election petition was filed by on K Shankara, a voter from Varuna constituency, alleging that the five election guarantees made in the Indian National Congress (INC) party's manifesto for the State polls in 2023 amounted to bribery and a corrupt practice under the Representation of the People Act.Shankara added that since the manifesto was issued with Siddaramaiah's consent, he too committed corrupt practices.The petitioner, therefore, urged the Court to not only declare Siddaramaiah's election void but also to debar him from contesting elections for six years..The Court, however, was not persuaded."'Guarantees' which are promised freebies in the Manifesto cannot be considered to constitute a corrupt practice under Section 123 of R.P. Act in light of the law laid down by the Apex Court in S. Subramaniam Balaji (supra) ... (the Supreme Court has further held that) the Act does not place a fetter on the Political Party, but only places a fetter on the individual," it held. .The Court also made some critical comments about the 'casual manner' in which the election petition was drafted.In this regard, it noted that there were discrepancies in the numbering of paragraphs in the petition, when compared to the accompanying verification affidavit, and that the name of the State's Chief Secretary was incorrectly mentioned."These instances are only illustrative and not exhaustive and would indicate very casual attitude in drafting an election dispute. It must be noticed that an Election Petition has serious repercussions and by law it is mandated that an Election Petition requires careful drafting and the present petition does not evidence attention to necessary details and is drafted in a very casual manner," the Court opined..During hearings, Senior Advocate Pramila Nesargi appeared for the petitioner and argued that the Congress' five guarantee scheme discriminated against men and violated the right to equality under Article 14 of the Constitution. She asserted that Siddaramaiah’s election should be cancelled since he had resorted to malpractices such as bribing voters ahead of the elections. The guarantee scheme that includes free trips for women, free electricity, rice distribution, financial assistance for women heads of households and unemployment allowances for graduates, were examples of such malpractice, Nesargi told the Court..The Court sought Siddaramaiah's response to the plea in July 2023. Senior Advocate Ravivarma Kumar led arguments on behalf of Siddaramaiah and refuted the allegations levelled by the petitioner. There is no evidence to back claims that the Congress election manifesto amounted to luring voters through bribery, he said. He also termed the petition as a work of "copy-paste", adding that it is liable to be dismissed on that ground alone. Notably, a challenge to the 2023 election of Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Rizwan Arshad from Shivajinagar on similar grounds was dismissed by Justice S Vishwajith Shetty of the Karnataka High Court in March 2024. Senior Advocate Kumar contended that the petition challenging the Chief Minister's election has also been filed with identical pleadings.The Court today found force in this argument. "It is necessary to note that in the case of Legislators belonging to the Indian National Congress Party who had contested elections for Karnataka Legislative Assembly for the term 2023 to 2028, identical allegations have been made in Election Petitions filed against them. In such of the petitions, it was once again contended that the promises in the Manifesto of the Indian National Congress amounted to corrupt practice," it observed. .Advocates Sunil MV and Priyanka G also represented the petitioner. Advocate Leela P Devadiga represented Siddaramaiah. .[Read Judgment]