The Madras High Court on Wednesday questioned whether the alleged omission of assets worth ₹ 30 crore from Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay’s election affidavit could amount to a “corrupt practice” when he had declared assets worth around ₹ 600 crore.
“When you become a judge, you are supposed to declare your assets. Do you think I sat and prepared the list? I relied on my chartered accountant. Similarly, do you think Vijay sat and wrote down all his assets? He would have definitely relied on a CA. The CA might have missed some assets. “If I decided to vote for Vijay, it wouldn’t matter to me if he owns what property. The petitioner has alleged discrepancies concerning several properties. He has also questioned Vijay’s disclosure concerning a Porur property, alleging discrepancies in its extent and purchase price. Even if it is assumed (though not admitted) that the contents of the entire election petition are true and correct, it would not disclose any cause of action,” it reads.
“He had declared 600 crore in assets. Can missing out 30 crore worth of assets amount to corrupt practice?” it said. Do you think it would make a difference to a voter in Perambur if Vijay had failed to disclose 30 crore worth of assets,” Justice Lakshminarayanan said to the petitioner’s counsel. These include 50 cents of land in Vilpatti village, Kodaikanal, which Vijay declared as a property he purchased but which the petitioner claims forms part of government poromboke land. “The entire election petition runs into pages and pages of microscopic dissection of my Form 26 with an item wise allegation of fluctuations in value of properties declared therein, whether or not these fluctuations are material or not…
The judge asked whether an error by a “chartered accountant” who prepared the asset statement could “justify setting aside an election. For that, can the election be set aside?” the Court said. In his reply filed before the Court, Vijay described the allegations as “false, unfounded, baseless and completely misconceived” and said they rested on “conjectures and surmises”.
