The Kerala High Court on Wednesday ruled that the petition filed against the election of BJP MP and Union Minister of State Suresh Gopi from Thrissur alleging some corrupt practices during the election campaign was maintainable.
A bench of Justice Kauser Edappagath dismissed an interim application by Gopi, the lone BJP MP from Kerala, challenging the election petition filed by Binoy AS, an All India Youth Federation (AIYF) leader and voter from Thrissur.
“The upshot of the findings is that the challenge to what can be supported from the election petition filed on all grounds must fail. The preliminary objections raised by the respondent (Gopi) are therefore overruled. The court said that the election petition is not liable to be dismissed out of hand.”
Gopi won the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency in the 2024 general elections, defeating his nearest rival VS Sunil Kumar of the Communist Party of India by a margin of 74,686 votes.
Petitioner Binoy objected to Gopi’s election, alleging that he and his associates indulged in certain “corrupt practices” under Section 123 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
In the petition, Benoy claimed that Gobi misused religious symbols to appeal to voters to choose him and promised gifts including mobile phones to some voters. The petition claimed that a Gopi activist urged voters to think of a particular Hindu god while voting for Gopi.
The Supreme Court noted that one of the allegations related to the distribution of umbrellas to vendors in the vegetable market during the election campaign had been struck out.
“The defendant (Gopi) will face prosecution for other corrupt practices alleged in the petition,” the court said.
Gopi said he would approach the higher courts against the Supreme Court ruling.
