The Madhya Pradesh High Court has nullified the election of opposition Congress MP Mukesh Malhotra from the Vijaypur Assembly seat, terming his failure to declare criminal cases in his election affidavit as a corrupt practice under the Representation of People Act.
BJP’s Ramniwas Rawat, who lost to Malhotra in the December 2024 bypoll, will take his place in the Assembly, Justice G S Ahluwalia of the Gwalior bench said on Monday. The order will come into force after 14 days, giving Malhotra time to file an appeal in the Supreme Court.
In 2023, Rawat won the Vijaypur Assembly seat on a Congress ticket before resigning to join the BJP. In the December 2024 by-election, Rawat lost to Malhotra by 7,364 votes.
Rawat moved the Supreme Court saying Malhotra did not disclose two criminal cases in his election affidavit. The court said Malhotra deliberately and knowingly concealed this information, misleading voters.
“…This suppression has created a material obstacle to the free exercise of electoral rights, depriving voters of making an informed and considered decision and, therefore, such suppression has resulted in direct or indirect interference with the free exercise of the right to vote by voters. Since Malhotra was aware of the pending cases and whether charges have been framed or not, therefore, this act of Malhotra amounts to undue influence, necessitating that its results be declared null and void,” the court said.
The court said that intentionally not providing such information constituted a corrupt practice. “…It is not necessary for this court to consider whether or not the repression on the part of Malhotra materially affected the outcome of the elections, because it must be assumed, and no such question arises. Hence, Malhotra is guilty of corrupt practices.”
The court declared Rawat elected after he received the second highest votes. It directed the Election Commission of India and the Returning Officer to complete the formalities in this regard.
Congress leader Umang Sengar said they respect the court’s decision. “Congress will appeal this decision to the Supreme Court after consulting lawyers and understanding the legal aspects. The people of Vijaypur have given Congress its mandate. People are still with us. We are hopeful that we will get justice from the Supreme Court.”
BJP spokesperson Hitesh Bajpai said the Congress hid the criminal cases against Malhotra to mislead innocent tribal voters, but now the court has cleared everything.
