The right to know educational qualification of a candidate is crucial to making an informed decision, noted SC.
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The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that election of a candidate can be dismissed on proving that the information s/he had provided in the nomination paper was incorrect. The bench comprising Justice AR Dave and Justice Nageswar Rao said that the voters have a right to make an informed decision after knowing about the candidate’s educational qualifications.
The ruling follows the court's dismissal of Manipur Nationalist Congress Party MLA Mairembam Prithviraj's election after it was proved that he had falsely claimed that he had an MBA degree in his nomination papers, as reported by The Times of India . The legislator had dismissed the incorrect information as a "clerical error" committed by his lawyer and agent who had filed the nomination papers in 2012 on his behalf. The court had denied his plea.
"The voter has the choice to decide whether he should cast a vote in favour of a person involved in a criminal case. He also has a right to decide whether holding of an educational qualification or holding of property is relevant for electing a person to be his representative," the bench said, adding that if candidates provide the right information, it can lead to an efficient "democratic governing system", as quoted in the news reports.
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