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The Madhya Pradesh High Court has held that a speech made on a public platform which includes a criticism of a High Court judgement is not tantamount to ‘corrupt practice’ under the Representation of People’s Act, 1951. The Court was hiring a petition filed by a defeated candidate, who alleged that the elected candidate’s husband, Vikram Verma, had criticised the judgement of the HC by stating that “Gods do not sit in the high court, and main points were left out.”
The Court did not find this to be ‘corrupt practice’ as laid under Section 123 of the Act. The Court stated that even one assumes it to be ‘corrupt practice’, it was not found to be with the consent of the candidate herself or her election agent. Further, the petitioner was not present when the remarks were made, and there was no element of mens rea, which is a requirement for conviction under Section 123. The petition was found to be without any foundation, and the Court condemned the pendency of the petition since 2014 as it was only for ‘political survival in the public eye’.
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