Madhya Pradesh HC rules suppression of pending cases amounts to corrupt practice, hands seat to BJP’s Rawat
In a significant electoral ruling, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has annulled Congress MLA Mukesh Malhotra’s victory from Vijaypur assembly seat, finding that he deliberately concealed two pending criminal cases in his election affidavit ,a suppression the court deemed a corrupt practice under the Representation of People Act.
Justice GS Ahluwalia of the Gwalior bench ruled that by withholding this information, Malhotra denied voters the right to make an informed choice , effectively amounting to undue influence over the electorate.
The seat now passes to BJP’s Ramniwas Rawat, who had lost the December 2024 by-poll to Malhotra by 7,364 votes, and who originally filed the petition exposing the concealment.
The order takes effect in 14 days, giving Congress time to appeal before the Supreme Court , which the party has already confirmed it will pursue
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