Kerala High Court Dismisses Plea Challenging 2021 Assembly Election Of UDF MLA Mani C Kappan
The Kerala High Court on Tuesday (November 5) dismissed a petition filed by C V John challenging the result of 2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly election where Mani C. Kappan who had contested under United Democratic Front was declared as the returning candidate. C. V. John had contested from the same constituency–Pala, as an independent candidate. He had filed the petition against Kappan and...
The Kerala High Court on Tuesday (November 5) dismissed a petition filed by C V John challenging the result of 2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly election where Mani C. Kappan who had contested under United Democratic Front was declared as the returning candidate.
C. V. John had contested from the same constituency–Pala, as an independent candidate. He had filed the petition against Kappan and 9 other candiadtes who contested from that candidate.
The judgment was delivered by a single judge bench of Justice C. Jayachandran. The election result was challenged on the ground that Kappan spent more money for their campaign than permitted under Representation of People Act. He also argued that the MLA did not keep proper accounts of his expenses and this was a violation of Section 77(1). The Court held that the petitioner could not show that any failure to maintain the records has substantially affected the election results. The Court observed that though an election petition is in the nature of a civil litigation, the petitioner has a burden to prove his claim beyond all reasonable doubt.
Counsel for the Petitioner: Adv. Sunil Cyriac
Counsel for the Respondents: Advocates Deepu Thankan, Tom Jose Padinjarekkara, Sebastian Joseph, P. C. Haridas, Deepu Lal Mohan, Lakshmi Sreedharan, Ummul Fida, Elizabeth George, Emmanuel Cyriac, Thareeq Anver K., T. Krishnanunni (Sr.)
Case Number: El. Pet. 9/ 2021
Case Title: C. V. John v Mani C. Kappan
Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Ker) 700