New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' petition seeking review of its October 1, 2019 judgment, ordering his criminal prosecution under Section 125A of the Representation of People Act (RPA) for not filing details of pending criminal cases.
The cases pertained to alleged cheating and forgery filed in 1996 and 1998, the details of which were missing in his 2014 poll affidavit, though the charges had not been framed.Fadnavis was given a clean chit by the Bombay High Court, holding that there was no need for him to face trial for the alleged offence under the Act. However, the Apex Court bench headed by then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi overturned the ruling on a petition by advocate Satish Ukey who was pursuing the case since 2014 and directed a trial court in Nagpur to proceed with the trial.
On January 24, the Supreme Court had agreed to hear the review petition.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi told a Bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra that the law provides for disclosure of information regarding the criminal cases, only if the charges have been framed or on conviction, and no such things happened in the case of his client Fadnavis.
He said the 2019 verdict will not only seal his client Fadnavis' fate but will have far reaching consequences on other candidates fighting elections, unless the court re-examines its 2019 decision.
The other judges on the Bench were Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose, who were also on the Bench that overturned the High Court verdict setting aside an order of the Principal District and Sessions judge of Nagpur against Fadnavis.
