SP MLA’s Form 6 ‘goes missing’

Sources said the EC has asked for the document to check whether Singh got his name registered first in Deoria district of UP or Udhamsingh Nagar district of Uttarakhand,where he reportedly caste his vote in Sitarganj Assembly bypoll in July 2012.

As per Election Commission rules,under Sections 17 and 18 of the Public Representatives Act,1950,no individual is allowed to be registered as a voter at more than one place. While applying for inclusion of his or her name in the electoral roll,an applicant has to make a declaration in the application form that he or she is not a voter any other place. For making a wrong declaration,a person could face imprisonment of one year or penalty or both.

Sources said Singh may have to face action under these sections in future as EC has found that he has his name registered at two places.

The poll panel had sought Singh’s form in follow up of an investigation that started after his photographs appeared in newspapers after he allegedly cast his vote in Sitarganj Assembly bypoll in Uttarakhand on July 8,2012. Taking cognizance of media reports published there in this regard,Uttarkhand’s CEO Radha Raturi had sent a report to the UP CEO in August,stating that Singh is registered as a voter at Dak Bangla-Basgar polling station in Sitarganj Assembly constituency there.

Later,UP CEO Umesh Sinha sent a report to the EC confirming that Singh’s name was existing in the electoral roll of Barhaj Assembly constituency also.

To compare the date of Singh’s applications for voter registration in both the states,the EC had recently asked for his Form 6 from Sinha. “As Form 6 of MLA Prem Prakash Singh could not be traced,the Deoria district administration checked the electoral roll of past several years to find that he had got his name included in 1995. A report with these facts have been sent to the EC,” Sinha said.