Actor Vishal Krishna may not be able to use video evidence of the Returning Officer (RO) in R.K. Nagar Assembly constituency reportedly orally stating that his nomination papers have been accepted in his defence, as only “speaking orders” of the ROs can be challenged in courts.
Former Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami told The Hindu that only technical issues and not substantive issues could be resolved without rejecting (defective) nomination filed by a candidate.
The nomination papers of the actor were rejected on Tuesday after two of the 10 persons whose names were mentioned as proposers of his nomination claimed that their signatures in the nomination papers were forged.
Asked about Mr. Vishal’s claims that video evidence of the Returning Officer Velusamy accepting his nomination was available, Mr. Gopalaswami said the RO too would be aware that his actions would be subjected to scrutiny in case of a dispute. The ex-Chief Election Commissioner pointed out that only a “speaking order” (written order rejecting the nomination) of the RO could be contested in the court of law and not the oral statements made. “The RO can always ask for legal opinion of the Commission. There has also been an instance once when the Commission had directed the RO to reject the nomination of a candidate which was initially accepted because of an order of the Supreme Court which disqualified the candidate. The RO was unaware of the court order,” he recalled.
As for the powers vested with the RO to reject or give the candidate a chance to rectify the defects in the nomination paper, Mr. Gopalaswami said: “The Commission always advises the Returning Officer never to reject papers on technical issue. But not for a substantive issue.”
Former Chief Election Commissioner T.S. Krishnamurthy pointed out that the RO was a quasi-judicial authority and he/she is very well within his/her powers to accept or reject any nomination papers.
