PIL seeks poll candidates to submit documents with affidavit

The Gujarat High Court today heard a petition which sought the court's direction to the Election Commission to ensure that a candidate contesting polls also submits all documents in support of averments made in the affidavit.
A vacation bench of Justice A J Shastri transferred the petition for hearing by a regular bench, with next hearing scheduled for June 14.
The provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, do not empower returning officers to check and cross verify any detail submitted by the candidate in the absence of documents supporting averments made in the affidavit submitted before a returning officer, the petition, filed by K R Koshti, said.

This leads to many candidates to either file false affidavits or conceal important information, it said.
The petitioner said that there have been several cases of "defective affidavits, fake degrees, false affidavits, concealment of important information by the returning candidates," and to make the process transparent, it is important for a candidate to provide documentary evidences to support averments made in the affidavit.
It also sought that educational qualification certificates should also be submitted by the candidates.
The central government, the Election Commission and the chief electoral officer of Gujarat are respondents in the case.