A Delhi court on Saturday dismissed an application filed by Aam Aadmi Party’s Palam MLA Bhavna Gaur seeking discharge in a case of allegedly filing false sworn statements about her educational qualifications along with her nomination papers for the Delhi Assembly elections in 2013 and 2015.
Dismissing her application, Metropolitan Magistrate Pankaj Sharma fixed February 6 as the date for framing of notice in the case.
The court had in July last year taken cognisance of a complaint in the matter filed by advocate Samrendra Nath Verma after recording his evidence.
Mr. Verma has sought prosecution of the MLA under Section 125A of the Representation of People Act.
The law provides for imprisonment, which may extend up to six months or fine or both, in a case of conviction for filing wrong statements along with the nomination papers.
Mr. Verma alleged that in her affidavit filed on November 12, 2013, Ms. Gaur claimed that her highest qualification was Class XII. But in her next affidavit filed on January 15, 2015, the AAP candidate said that her highest qualifications were B.A. and B.Ed.
How Ms. Gaur could have finished the two courses within 14 months from what she claimed in her first affidavit when the normal time prescribed for B.A. is three years and two years for B.Ed., Mr. Verma said.
The accused must have filed a false affidavit either in 2013 or in 2015 before the Returning Officer about her educational qualifications as only one version could be correct, the complaint stated, adding that it was evident the accused had given false information, which she knew to be false in one of her two aforesaid affidavits.
