Supreme Court allows private complaints against candidates over false election affidavits

In a significant election-law ruling on October 16, 2026, the Supreme Court held that private citizens can file criminal complaints against elected candidates who furnish false information or conceal material facts in their election affidavits. A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu ruled that the restriction under Section 195 of the Code of Criminal Procedure — which normally limits criminal courts from taking cognisance of certain offences without a complaint by a public servant — will not come in the way of such complaints under Section 125A of the Representation of the People Act. The Court said the non-inclusion of Section 125A within Section 195 must be treated as a deliberate legislative choice. The verdict came while disposing of an appeal by Rajkumar Madki against a Karnataka High Court judgment of March 7, 2025, which had quashed his private complaint against Shailendra Beldale, the elected MLA from Karnataka's Bidar constituency, over an alleged false declaration of residential address in his 2023 assembly election nomination affidavit. While settling the law in favour of maintainability, the Court declined to revive the proceedings against Beldale, and noted that magistrates are empowered to deal with frivolous or harassing complaints. Telegraph India The Economic Times (Telegraphindia, Economic Times)

• In a significant election-law ruling on October 16, 2026, the Supreme Court held that private citizens can file criminal complaints against elected candidates who furnish false information or conceal material facts in th
• A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu ruled that the restriction under Section 195 of the Code of Criminal Procedure — which normally limits criminal courts from taking cognisance of certain offences without
• The Court said the non-inclusion of Section 125A within Section 195 must be treated as a deliberate legislative choice.