The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday set aside the election of G. Manjunath, independent MLA from Mulabagilu reserved constituency (SC), in the elections held to the State Assembly in 2013.
The court observed that the acceptance of the nomination and further declaration of the result is illegal as Mr. Manjunath belongs to ‘Byragi’ caste, which is under OBC, and has failed to establish that he belonged to ‘Beda Jangama’ caste, which is under Scheduled Caste category.
Justice A.S. Bopanna passes the order while partly allowing a petition filed by Munianjanappa, a defeated candidate belonging to the JD(S).
Imposing a cost of ₹25,000 on Mr. Manjunath, the court observed that there were several discrepancies in conducting the mahazar for grant of SC caste certificate to Mr. Manjunath and violation of the guidelines issued by the apex court.
Mr. Munianjanappa had moved the High Court in 2013 questioning the legality of acceptance of Mr. Manjunath’s nomination papers and his election.
