Market value of campaign material fixed by EC not sacrosanct: SC
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has said the market value of campaign materials fixed by Election Commission is not sacrosanct.
A bench headed by Justice J Chelameswar held the losing candidate can always question the rates fixed by the poll body on the ground it is undervalued. On a challenge, a court can determine the rates of the material used on the basis of the actual market value.
The verdict is likely to make it difficult for successful candidates to counter the allegations of over-expenditure during the polls. Now, the quality and price of every material used will have to be proved to show that the candidate did not spend beyond the permissible limit.
The SC ruling came on a petition filed by Congress MLA from Madhya Pradesh, Ajay Arjun Singh, son of late union minister Arjun Singh. “The values fixed by the Election Commission or its functionaries are not conclusive. There is no statutory basis for such an exercise. The valuation made by the Election Commission obviously would be based on the samples supplied by the candidates,” said the SC bench.
The court felt it can never be presumed that the candidates use the same quality of material in the actual process of campaigning. The quality, quantity and real cost of the material actually used by any candidate are always questions of the fact. And, the court held, this requires to be established in evidence.
The petitioner, MLA from Churahat Assembly constituency, had moved the SC after the state High Court refused to dismiss the election petition filed by defeated BJP candidate - Sharadendu Tiwari, in the 2013 Assembly elections. Singh had won the election by a margin of 19,356 votes. Tiwari had accused the Congress MLA of spending massive money to illegally influence voters. He alleged expenditure incurred was beyond the permissible limit of ₹16 lakh fixed for each assembly constituency.
Tiwari’s petition also complained there was total non disclosure of certain expenditure incurred by the appellant for organizing a meeting of one of the top functionaries of the political party including party vice president Rahul Gandhi. Singh denied Tiwari’s contention. He argued the expenditure was based on the determination of monetary market value fixed by the poll panel for each of the materials used by the candidates.
The SC rejected Singh’s contention. It concluded the “quantity and quality of the material used by the appellant during the course of his election campaign and value of such material are pure questions of fact which are required to be established on evidence.” Singh will now fight the election petition against him on merits and as per the SC order.