“Though it is a fact that the respondent (the elected candidate) was morally bound to disclose the true and complete facts in his affidavit, but legally there is nothing to show that such an act can be termed as a material suppression to bring it within the ambit of disqualification as provided under provisions of Section 9 of the DMC Act,” said Additional District Judge (ADJ) Kamini Lau.

“It is a principle requirement of democracy that citizens should be aware of the credentials of the candidates to the election whose personal and professional lives are even otherwise open to the public scrutiny,” Lau said.

Rajesh and Jai Prakash, candidates from the BJP and the Congress respectively, had lost to Santosh Kumar, an independent candidate, in MCD polls for ward number 244 held in April 5 last year. Challenging Kumar's election, they had filed petitions alleging that Kumar had concealed material facts and had wrongly furnished details which were false in respect of his personal character and conduct as well as in relation to his candidature.

Rajesh alleged that Kumar has wrongly mentioned his address in the nomination form. He allegedly gave the address of a property which he had already sold off in 2003 to J Kishore. He knowingly and intentionally did not file the correct address of his residence, he alleged. However, the court dismissed their petitions on the ground that they have failed to prove that there was concealment of material facts in respect of the personal character and conduct as alleged in their petition.