Kochi: The Kerala High Court will consider a petition against Pathanamthitta MP Anto Antony for allegedly canvassing votes in the name of religion on November 13.
On Wednesday, the court observed that the case against Anto was maintainable, as “primafacie speech by Anto's wife, Grace Antony, in a religious meet was against Section 123 (3) of the representation of the model code of conduct.'
Congress candidate Anto Antony had defeated CPM's Veena George by 44,613 votes to win the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency.
The petition challenging the Anto's election was filed by Veena's chief agent and Left Democratic Front Election Committee convenor S Ananthappan.
The petitioner alleged that Anto's wife, a Pentecost church follower, had appealed to the faithful to vote for Anto during prayer meetings.
When the petition came up for hearing, Justice Justice P B Sureshkumar said the charge of use of religion in canvassing votes amounted to a corrupt practice.
He, however, observed that the allegation that Antony used the the Sabarimala temple women's entry issue for canvassing votes was not maintainable.
Sabarimala, the abode of Lord Ayyappa, comes under the Pathanamthitta constituency.
Who all penalised before?
There have been five other instances where Kerala MPs and MLAs have been penalised for violating the Model Code of Conduct.
Last year, the Kerala High Court disqualified Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) MLA KM Shaji from Azhikode constituency for six years for seeking votes in the name of religion and spreading falsehood about his opponent. Shaji who's appeal is pending in the Supreme Court is currently not permitted from voting in the assembly or drawing the MLA's salary.
In 2009, Muvattupuzha MP PC Thomas was disqualified by the High Court and later the Supreme Court for circulating leaflets and calenders with Christian religious leaders and ferrying voters to polling booths. However, the SC verdict was announced after end of the Lok Sabha term.
MJ Zakaria Sait, IUML's MLA from Mattancherry was disqualified by the HC in 1987 for running a smear campaign against his CPI(M) opponent, TM Mohammed. His verdict was however, quashed by the apex court later.
In 1977, IUML's Malappuram MLA CH Muhammed Koya was declared void by the HC for publishing articles appealing to Muslims to vote for him during his capacity as Chandrika's editor.
In the same year, Congress leader KM Mani's victory from Pala assembly was disqualified for wooing voters from the Christian community with the help of a police officer. The officer allegendly conducted meetings with various Christian priests to ensure Mani’s victory. The Supreme Court later quashed the verdicts against Koya and Mani.
