Ahead of state assembly elections, BJP has got a jolt as on today the apex court of India reserved a clean chit to Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis in an election affidavit case. Cases of alleged cheating and forgery were filed against Fadnavis in 1996 and 1998, respectively but charges were not framed. However, a local court in Maharashtra had taken cognizance of the complaint. He then asserted that he hadn’t concealed any information in his affidavit.
In this case, Fadnavis had been accused of suppressing two criminal cases pending against him in his nomination papers for the 2014 assembly election. The bench for this case presided by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said that the CM will have to face trial in the 2014 election case and  Devendra Fadnavis will be tried under Section 125A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951,the court informed.
Lawyer Satish Ukey had submitted his petition for action against Maha CM under the Representation of People Act but his applications. However, the petition had been rejected by the lower court as well as the Mumbai High Court. And last year, he approached the Supreme Court. Ukey had told the court that the BJP leader had concealed two criminal cases, thus violating Section 125A of the Representation of People’s Act.
The election law provides for a two-year jail sentence for concealing or providing false information in election affidavits. The law also stipulates that a person sentenced to jail for two years or more will be disqualified from contesting elections for that period and a further six years after release.
The setback comes as Devendra Fadnavis is going to file his nomination for the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections from Nagpur South West.
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