Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge on Monday defended the registration of cases against people accused of submitting false Form 7 applications to seek deletion of voters during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, saying knowingly providing false information in such applications amounts to a criminal offence.
Kharge said those found guilty of making false declarations in connection with electoral rolls can face imprisonment of up to one year, a fine, or both under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
Form 7 is used to file an objection to the proposed inclusion or deletion of a name from an existing electoral roll.
The minister alleged that BJP leaders and workers were behind the submission of false Form 7 applications and described the alleged activity as a "centralised criminal conspiracy" targeting certain sections of society. He also questioned whether officials of the Election Commission were involved.
"Let them (BJP and JDS leaders) go and clarify to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on BJP workers giving in writing to the EROs or Tahsildars in Ballari, Bableshwar, Bhalki, Chikkamagaluru, that they are withdrawing thousands of Form 7s they submitted, by accepting their wrongdoing in several cases," Kharge said when asked about NDA leaders' proposed meeting with the CEO later on Monday.
Speaking to reporters, Kharge asked the NDA leaders to explain to the CEO why party workers were involved in submitting the forms,...
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