Karnataka High Court on Friday declared the election of JD(S) Member of Parliament from Hassan, Prajwal Revanna, was declared null and void by the High Court of Karnataka on Friday. Prajwal Revanna is the grandson of JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda. 

Justice K Natarajan in his judgment partly allowed the two petitions filed by G Devarajegowda, a voter from the constituency, and A Manju, the then BJP’s defeated candidate (2019 LS polls). 

Revanna was the only candidate from the party to have won the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka in 2019. Manju, who fought the Lok Sabha election against Revanna on a BJP ticket and lost, subsequently joined JD(S) and is currently an MLA. 

The petitions had claimed that Revanna indulged in election malpractice and did not declare his assets to the Election Commission. 

Justice K Natarajan dictated the operative portion of his judgment in the court on Friday. 

The HC also directed the Election Commission to take action against Prajwal’s father H D Revanna (MLA and former minister) and brother Suraj Revanna (MLC) for election malpractice. 

“H D Revanna and Suraj Revanna are named in the complaint under the Representation of People’s Act for having committed corrupt practice at the time of election and also A Manju, who is also involved in corrupt practice. Election Commission to issue notice and comply with Conduct of Election Process Rules,” the HC said. 

The petitions had cited several examples of malpractices as well as non-declaration of assets by Prajwal. 

It was claimed that the Chennambika Conventional Hall was worth at least Rs 5 crore but was declared as worth only Rs 14 lakh by Prajwal. Another example was the bank balance in an account declared as Rs 5 lakh but allegedly having a deposit of Rs 48 lakh. It was alleged that the MP had several assets in the name of benamis and that he had also committed "income tax fraud". 

Image Source: Deccan Herald