Quashing a case of poll code violation against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda, the Karnataka high court called the FIR filed at Harapanahalli police station a ‘vague’ one. The court also said that the allegations are absurd and the FIR lacks prima facie material, reported Deccan Herald.
On May 7, Nadda held an election rally at the IB Circle of Harappanahalli town in Vijayanagara district, where he allegedly said that if the BJP loses the polls, the voters will be deprived of Central government schemes. Officials of the Election Vigilance Division lodged a complaint with Harappanahalli Police Station stating that the speech violated the model code.
According to the report, Justice M Nagaprasanna said that the complaint looks like a maliciously instituted one. The court said, “The complaint does not say that the petitioner had interfered with the free exercise of anyone’s electoral right. It also doesn’t say that the petitioner is guilty of personation as defined under Section 171D of the IPC in the elections.”
The court also said that the FIR doesn’t qualify to be filed under 171F.
“An incident to become an offence under Section 171F, the basic requirement is saying that the complaint of the ingredients of undue influence or personation. The allegation is that the Election Code of Conduct was violated by the petitioner, on speaking at a public gathering on May 7,2023 by threatening the voters. It turns out to be a very vague complaint that it would affect vagueness itself. On such a vague complaint which is made loosely against the petitioner, the crime is just hanging on the petitioner projecting it to be an offence,” the court said, according to the publication.
