SC QUASHES CRIMINAL CASE AGAINST UJJAIN MP

The Supreme Court on Friday quashed the order of the Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court for a criminal case against Ujjain's BJP MP Prof. Chintamani Malviya for a false statement on a court notice served on him in an election petition in 2014.

While the election petition by one Premchand Guddu challenging his election was dismissed, the High Court asked its principal registrar to file complaint before the concerned court of magistrate against Malviya for the false statement that he was not served the court notice.

His pretension that the notice was served on one of his employees and he came to know about it only after five months to plead for canceling the ex-parte proceedings fell flat after process server Arun Bhalerao established that he had served the notice on him and not on anybody else on August 16, 2014.

The Bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Uday Umesh Lalit upheld Malviya's appeal, holding that initiation of the proceedings against him was not consistent with the parameters laid down by the court.

It held that the law is clear that "prosecution should be ordered when it is considered expedient in the interest of justice to punish the delinquent and there must be prima facie case of deliberate falsehood on the matter of substance" to satisfy that there is reasonable foundation for the charge.

The Court said the assessment made by the High Court in its view does not satisfy the parameters and requirements as laid down by it.