Supreme Court of India and Siddaramaiah.
Credit: PTI File Photos
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on a plea by a voter challenging the Congress leader's election from the Varuna Assembly constituency in 2023 elections.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta sought a reply from Siddaramaiah, upon after hearing advocate Vishwaditya Sharma on behalf of K Shankara, challenging the Karnataka High Court's April 22, 2025 order, rejecting his plea.
The petitioner filed the election petition against the CM, on the allegations that the five guarantees made during the State polls in 2023 amounted to bribery and a corrupt practice under the Representation of the People Act.
His plea contended the respondent leader and his agents personally distributed the pamphlet, actively relied on its promises during canvassing, and thus directly engaged in cormpt practices.
These allegations would require a full evidentiary trial, but the High Court wrongly short-circuited the process by rejecting the petition at the threshold, it claimed.
The plea also contended the HC's election tribunal based its decision primarily on the Supreme Court's judgment in Subramaniam Balaji Vs State of Tamil Nadu, (2013), which held that Section 123 of the Representation of the People Ac, 1951 does not apply to political parties, and that promises contained in a party manifesto cannot, by themselves, constitute a corrupt practice.
"This conclusion, however, is misconceived and inapplicable to the present case, as the pamphlet was not a lawful manifesto but an illegal campaign document,'' it claimed.
The pamphlet contained direct promises of cash benefits, amounting to blatant vote buying and falling squarely within Section 123(1) RPA, it alleged.
"If allowed to stand, the HC's order would create a dangerous precedent enabling political parties to circumvent election laws by outsourcing corrupt practices to party machinery, while candidates escape liability. Given the systemic implications for electoral integrity and constitutional governance, this court's intervention is necessary to restore the election petition for trial and reaffirm that money power and vote buying have no place in a democratic polity,'' the plea stated.
The HC had rejected Shankara's plea after noting that the election guarantees cannot constitute a corrupt practice.