The election of JD(S) Member of Parliament from Hassan, Prajwal Revanna, was declared null and void by the High Court of Karnataka on Friday.
Justice K Natarajan in his judgment partly allowing the two petitions filed by G Devarajegowda, a voter from the constituency, and A Manju, the then BJP’s defeated candidate (2019 LS polls) also directed the Election Commission of India to take action against Prajwal Revanna for election malpractice as per the Conduct of Election Process Rules.
Prajwal Revanna is the grandson of JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, and is the only candidate from the party to have won the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka in 2019.
Manju, who fought the Lok Sabha election against Revanna on a BJP ticket and lost, subsequently joined JD(S), and is currently an MLA.
The petitions had claimed that Revanna indulged in election malpractice and did not declare his assets to the Election Commission.
“Both the election petitions filed by the petitioners are allowed in part. The election of returned candidate, Respondent No 1 namely Prajwal Revanna alias Prajwal R, Member of the Parliament, Constituency 16, Hassan (General) having been declared as returned candidate dated 23.5.2019 is hereby declared as null and void,” Justice Natarajan said.
The high court however dismissed the prayer of the petitioners to declare Manju as the winning candidate as he himself was “involved in corrupt practices”.