MAN, 35, COPS VOTER FRAUD CHARGES

A 35-year-old man charged with three voter registration offences appeared in the Suva Magistrates Court on Friday.

No plea was taken and Rajnil Pratap Sobha was released on bail after he appeared before Magistrate Liyange Wickramasekara.

In the first count, Sobha was charged with false declaration on an application for voter registration.

The Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption alleges that Sobha, on July 18, 2016, in Ba knowingly made false declarations on an Application to Register as a Voter.

He allegedly stated his name as Rajneel Malhotra and falsified his date of birth as 02/08/87 before submitting it to the Fijian Elections Office officials.

The second count was false declaration on an application for the replacement of electronic voter registration card.

It is alleged that Sobha, on June 10, 2017 in

Nadi, knowingly made false declarations on an Application for Replacement of Electronic Voter Registration Card form by filling by stating his name again as Rajneel Malhotra and writing his false date of birth.

He allegedly submitted this to the FEO officials and was issued an Upgraded Voter Card 2.0 bearing his name as Rajneel Malhotra with a false date of birth and a false Electronic Voter Registration Number.

The third count was applying to be registered as a voter on more than one occasion. On October 31, 2017, in Suva, it is alleged Sobha applied to be registered as a voter under the name of Rajnil Pratap Sobha with a different voter registration number, while he was already registered as Rajneel Rajiv Malhotra with another voter registration number. Sobha was released on $3000 personal bail and one of his sureties has to pay $2000 bail in the event he does not report to the Nasinu Police Station.

Sobha has to surrender all his travel documents and passports and is not allowed to travel.

In addition, he said he would seek representation by the Legal Aid Commission. The matter will be called on June 26, 2018.