The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that citizens can file criminal complaints against candidates for false election affidavits. The bench said, “If at all a complaint is lodged to harass an elected candidate, the laws of the country duly equip and empower the competent magistrates to pass such order(s).”
The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that private citizens can file criminal complaints against elected candidates for giving false information or concealing material facts in election affidavits under the Representation of the People Act, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu said the restriction under Section 195 of the Code of Criminal Procedure would not prevent the filing of such complaints. The provision bars criminal courts from taking up certain offences unless the authorised public servant or court files a written complaint.
“We hold that a private complaint alleging offence committed under Section 125A, RoP Act need not pass muster of the rigours of Section 195 CrPC as held by the High Court,” the bench said, according to PTI.
“If at all a complaint is lodged to harass an elected candidate or frivolous allegations are levelled therein, the laws of the country duly equip and empower the competent magistrates to pass such order(s) as they deem fit and proper commensurate with the facts and circumstances of each case,” it added.
Section 125A of the Representation of the People Act penalises candidates who provide false information, conceal details or fail to make mandatory disclosures in their nomination papers or election affidavits.
The court delivered the judgment while disposing of an appeal filed by Rajkumar Madki against a Karnataka High Court order dated March 7, 2025. The High Court had quashed his criminal complaint against Shailendra Beldale, an elected member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from the Bidar constituency.
Madki alleged that Beldale had made a false declaration about his residential address in an affidavit submitted with his nomination papers for the 2023 Assembly election. He filed a private complaint under Section 200 of the CrPC before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in Bengaluru, alleging an offence punishable under Section 125A of the Representation of the People Act.
The Karnataka High Court had ruled that proceedings for the alleged offence could be initiated only through a complaint by the Election Commission. It also said a voter could file an election petition instead of pursuing a private criminal complaint.
“The legislature is presumed to be conscious of its insertion of Section 125A in the RoP Act four years back,” the Supreme Court judgment said. It added that the omission of Section 125A from the restrictions under Section 195 of the CrPC must be treated as deliberate.
The court also said there was no other legal provision limiting the filing of such complaints to public servants. This, along with the wording of Section 125A, supported the conclusion that a private complaint was legally maintainable, PTI reported.
However, despite ruling that private citizens can file such complaints, the Supreme Court declined to revive the criminal proceedings against Beldale.
The verdict, therefore, settled that private complaints over alleged false information or concealment in election affidavits are maintainable under Section 125A of the Representation of the People Act, while leaving the proceedings against Beldale closed.