The rejection of nomination papers of actor Vishal Krishna has ignited a debate whether the Election Commission can order re-scrutiny of his papers. There have indeed been past incidents wherein rejected nominations were reviewed by the Returning Officers.
During the 2009 byelections to the Bargur and Srivaikuntam Assembly constituencies, the nomination papers were originally rejected in respect of three persons, but the Election Commission had eventually ordered re-scrutiny of the nominations and allowed the three to contest.
The persons in question were S. Elango, an independent candidate and V. Chandran, a candidate sponsored by the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam, both in Bargur, and S. Raja, an independent in Srivaikuntam.
According to a report prepared by the office of Chief Electoral Officer of Tamil Nadu regarding the byelections that took place in the State throughout 2009 , the papers of Mr. Elango were rejected on the ground that “he had not submitted the certified copy of the voters list from his native constituency (Tiruvarur)”. The nomination of Mr. Chandran was rejected for the reason that “the individual had not submitted Form-A either along with his nomination paper or on the last date for making nomination, and even for considering him as an independent candidate, the Part No. and Serial No. of his 10 proposers were found to be not correct.” In the case of Mr. Raja, his papers were not accepted as his name “did not find a place in the relevant electoral roll.”
On re-scrutiny, the ROs had accepted their nominations. Mr. Chandran, who did not submit Form-A (which pertains to the form to be submitted by a registered or recognised party,intimating the name and specimen signature of authorised signatory) was considered an independent.
In Bargur and Srivaikuntam, the candidates fielded by the then ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and its ally, Congress, were elected, the report added.
Two former Chief Election Commissioners told this Correspondent that till the final list of candidates is made public, the EC can give suitable instructions to officials concerned if it is satisfied that there are “discrepancies” in the way the nomination papers are rejected.
In the case of R.K. Nagar, the Chennai District Election Officer D. Karthikeyan told The Hindu that no recommendation had, as yet, been made for re-scrutiny.
