Supreme Court Restores Congress Candidate's Petition Challenging BJP MP's Election From Assam

This case concerns an appeal against a High Court order that rejected an Election Petition challenging the 2024 Lok Sabha election victory of the respondent from the Karimganj constituency in Assam. The core issue is whether defects in the attestation of the petition copies and the Form-25 affidavit warrant the dismissal of the petition.

Appellant: Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Choudhury; Respondents: Kripanath Mallah & Ors.; Bench: Justice K. Vinod Chandran.

• The Court reversed the High Court's finding that the attestation of the Election Petition copies was improper, holding that the use of different rubber stamps conveying the same meaning suffices under Section 81(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
• The Court found that the copy of the Form-25 affidavit served on the respondent lacked any indication of notarization or attestation by a prescribed authority.
• The Court held that the defect in Form-25 is identical to the situation in Dr Shipra (Smt) v. Shanti Lal Khoiwal, where strict compliance is required for allegations of corrupt practices.
• The Court distinguished the present case from T.M. Jacob v. C. Poulose, noting that in the present case, there was no semblance of notarization carried out, unlike in T.M. Jacob where the endorsement indicated the affidavit was affirmed.
• The Court noted that while the defect in Form-25 does not entail peremptory dismissal of the entire petition under Section 86, the parts of the petition containing allegations of corrupt practices are liable to be struck off.

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