High court disqualifies Kerala legislator’s election

The Kerala High Court yesterday declared void the election of opposition legislator K M Shaji. It also barred the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) member from contesting elections for six months for appealing for votes on communal lines.

Judge P D Rajan, however, rejected the plea of petitioner, M V Nikesh Kumar, who was Shaji’s opponent in the 2016 Assembly elections, to declare him winner.

The court also ordered Shaji to pay Rs50,000 to Kumar, owner of a local television channel who had the support of the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM, towards costs.

The court later in the day stayed the operation of the verdict for two weeks so that the IUML leader could appeal in the Supreme Court.

Shaji wrested the seat from the CPM by a slender margin of 493 votes in 2011 and retained the position in 2016 defeating Kumar by 2,287 votes.

The court held he had indulged in communal politics and ordered re-election in the constituency of Azhikode, Kannur.

Kumar produced pamphlets allegedly distributed during Shaji’s campaigning which appealed to voters to refrain from casting their ballots for a candidate of a particular community.

Kumar argued that the authorities had informed his opponent against distributing such notices and had even seized some of the flyers.

The court held that Shaji could not prove that the pamphlets were issued without his knowledge and consent. After the verdict, the two attacked each other credibility.

“I’m ready to face a ban of 60 years. But I was not expecting such a verdict accusing me of communal politics. This has hurt me a lot,” Shaji said.

“I have no regrets about losing any position but questioning my integrity and my commitments to the very ideals I stood for pains.”

He alleged Kumar’s media firm faced several cases of cheating and fraud and accused him of opportunism.

The IUML, the principal ally of the Congress party in Kerala, accused Kumar and the CPM of playing a “dirty game” by producing and distributing the controversial pamphlets. They allege the CPM had resorted to the tactics to turn the majority community against its candidate in the constituency.

The IUML said officers loyal to the CPM had collected Shaji’s campaign material for routine checks and inserted fake ones to trap them.

However, the IUML could not present enough evidence to support their argument in court.

“The verdict is appropriate and exposes the split personality of my opponent,” said Kumar. “He speaks something and does the opposite.”

The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has offered support to Shaji to fight the case in the apex court.