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JD(S) MP for Tumakuru Rural Constituency in Karnataka DC Gowrishankar Swamy was disqualified by the Karnataka High Court on Thursday in a case involving allegations of electoral malpractice. However, the court kept the disbarment suspended for a month, allowing Swamy to appeal to the Supreme Court. A single-judge panel of the High Court was delivering its verdict on a petition filed by defeated BJP candidate B Suresh Gowda, who alleged electoral misconduct by Swamy for distributing fake insurance bonds to voters during the elections in 2018 in the Karnataka Assembly.
The disqualification, under Section 101 of the Representation of the People Act, comes five years after Gowda's initial complaint.
Judge S Sunil Dutt Yadav, who had reserved judgment after completing oral argument on February 17, handed down the orders on Thursday from the Kalaburagi Chamber of the Karnataka High Court.
Swamy's lawyer, Hemanth Raj, applied for a stay of the order under Section 116(B) of the Act to allow him to appeal to the High Court, as the Karnataka Assembly elections had already been announced.
Swamy plans to run in the upcoming election, the High Court has heard. Although plaintiff Gowda's lawyer opposed this request, the HC allowed the guilty plea and kept the order in abeyance.
In addition to Swamy, the court also found the other defendants Balanetraiah, Arehalli Manjunath, Krishnegowda, Renukamma and Sunanda guilty of corrupt electoral practices. The suspension of the warrant only affected Swamy and not the other defendants, the HC said.
After the model code of conduct went into effect on March 27, 2018, Swamy and his associates allegedly distributed fake insurance vouchers to 32,000 adults and 16,000 minors, in violation of section 123 of the law, according to Gowda's election petition.
He had approached the High Court in July 2018 and the ruling came a day after the Electoral Commission announced the electoral calendar for the 2023 Assembly elections, according to which the vote will take place on May 10.
