Case against AP minister for concealing information

Andhra Pradesh secondary education minister K Parthasarathy may be disqualified as election officials are all set to book him for not declaring in his 2004 and 2009 election affidavits that a criminal case was pending against him.

The minister was recently convicted by the economic offences court for violations of  Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (Fera) regulations. He was sentenced to two months simple imprisonment and a fine. The sentence was later put on hold by a higher court, allowing the minister to appeal against the sentence.

However, his joy was short lived  when former IAS officer and a civil rights activist EAS Sarma filed a complaint with the Election Commission that Parthasarathy had concealed the information. “I find that rendering false evidence per se constitutes offences defined in Sections 171G, 191, 193 and 199 of the IPC. Those who render false evidence are therefore duly punishable for infringing these sections under IPC. In addition, it also constitutes an offence under Section 125A of Representation of the People Act, 1951. Such persons are punishable with the penalty provided under that Section,” Sarma said.

Following directions from the State Chief Electoral Officer Bhanwar Lal, Krishna district officials found that the minister had not mentioned about the Fera case. Bhanwar Lal had already announced that a case under section 125A of the Representation of People Act would be slapped against the minister if found that there was no mention of pending cases in his affidavits. 

If found guilty the minister could be booked in a case which would invite a jail term of six months or penalty or both and  he would also be disqualified.