Elections: Voters do not have the right to know the details of all the properties held by the candidate; Supreme Court Achi-News

New Delhi: Anticipation for the Lok Sabha elections is mounting across the country. Candidates are busy submitting nominations and submitting an affidavit of property-money information along with the nomination as per the rules. How many properties does an applicant have? In this case, the judgment given by the Supreme Court has made the voters angry. The Supreme Court said that voters do not have an absolute right to know about every asset a candidate has.

The applicant also has a right to privacy

The Supreme Court said that an applicant also has the right to privacy regarding matters that do not concern him. According to the Supreme Court ruling, applicants do not need to disclose all assets owned by them or their family unless it reflects a significant net worth or a luxurious lifestyle.

Judgment in MLA Karikho Kri case

The judgment was given in the 2019 election case of Karikho Kri, a non-party MLA from Teju assembly constituency in Arunachal Pradesh. A bench comprising Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sanjay Kumar set aside the order of the Gauhati High Court declaring Karikho Kri’s election null and void.

What is the cause?

A rival candidate had accused Karikho Kri of undue influence by not disclosing three vehicles owned by his wife and son while filing nomination papers to contest the elections. The court decided, after finding that the vehicles were given or sold before Kri filed his nomination, that the vehicles could not be considered to still be the property of Kri’s wife and son.

In 2019, Karikho Kri was elected as a non-party MLA from Teju assembly constituency in Arunachal Pradesh.