SC revives Congress candidate's poll plea against BJP's Kripanath Mallah before Gauhati HC

The Supreme Court on August 24 revived an election petition filed by Congress candidate Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Choudhury challenging the election of BJP's Kripanath Mallah from Assam's Karimganj constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran set aside the Gauhati High Court's April 4, 2025 order, which had dismissed Choudhury's petition at the threshold over procedural deficiencies.

"We restore the election petition to the files of the High Court for consideration as required hereinabove," the bench said while allowing Choudhury's appeal.

The Supreme Court directed the High Court to verify whether Form 25, the affidavit relating to allegations of corrupt practices, had been properly attested. The bench noted that the form in the original record appeared to have been affirmed before a commissioner of affidavits.

If the required attestation is found to be in place, the High Court has been asked to hear the allegations on their merits. If not, the allegations of corrupt practices should not be considered, while other grounds raised in the petition can still be examined.

The bench stressed that allegations of corrupt practices in an election petition carry serious consequences, including possible disqualification from contesting elections for up to six years, and therefore require strict compliance with statutory requirements.

It also referred to earlier Supreme Court rulings which held that substantial compliance with such requirements would not necessarily be sufficient. At the same time, the court observed that the absence of an affirmation by a commissioner of affidavits would not by itself be fatal if it neither misrepresented the facts nor misled the returned candidate.

The High Court had rejected Choudhury's petition after Mallah raised objections over the manner in which the petition had been served, the attestation of certain pages and the absence of some pages. Mallah had sought dismissal of the petition, arguing that it did not comply with the provisions of the Representation of the People Act.

Choudhury had accused Mallah of corrupt practices under the election law and challenged his victory from Karimganj.

Mallah defeated Choudhury in the 2024 Lok Sabha election by more than 18,000 votes.