Look again, affidavits may be lies

The filing of two affidavits along with nomination papers by the candidates — one on criminal antecedents and another disclosing their ...

The filing of two affidavits along with nomination papers by the candidates — one on criminal antecedents and another disclosing their assets and liabilities — may have been made mandatory by the Election Commission. But these would not serve any immediate purpose nor would they prevent the candidate from contesting the polls on account of furnishing wrong information.

The returning officers, who receive the nomination papers along with the required affidavits, will not go into the merit of the content nor will they sit in judgment, because they have not been empowered to do so.

‘‘We have no powers to go into the contents of the affidavits. Only thing we have to ensure is that the nomination papers are accompanied with the affidavits. If the affidavits are not submitted, we will reject the papers,’’ said District Election Officer and Deputy Commissioner Anjum Perwez.

Asked if a person who submitted wrong information would be allowed to contest, Perwez said unless someone filed counter affidavits challenging the genuineness of the candidate’s claim, the returning officer can hardly do anything.

‘‘We are supposed to do only what we are told by the Election Commission. Neither more nor less,’’ Perwez added.

As per the amendment to the Representation of People’s Act, a person convicted for not less than two years for a criminal offence is not eligible to contest the elections. But how can the returning officers ensure that? When the question was posed to the two general observers of the EC for the Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency, Dr B.P. Neelratan and P. Raghavendra, they too expressed helplessness in the matter. The only way left for the interested parties was the filing of an election petition in the high court after the poll.

But, the mandatory provisions of submitting two affidavits will serve the purpose of honouring the right of the voter to know the candidates’ background. As they are public documents, copies can be availed of by paying the fee to the returning officer, they added.