Minor non- disclosure of assets won’t nullify election results: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has clarified that an election cannot be invalidated merely because a candidate failed to disclose certain assets or income in the nomination affidavit, unless the omission is of a substantial nature that could influence the result.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh upheld the election of BRS MLA Kova Laxmi from Telangana’s Asifabad constituency, rejecting claims that her incomplete income disclosure amounted to a corrupt practice under the Representation of the People Act, 1951. 

The Court clarified that non-disclosure of criminal antecedents is a serious defect, but minor lapses in educational or financial particulars do not warrant election annulment.

[Ajmera Shyam v Kova Laxmi & Ors.]