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Section 125A: Supreme Court allows private complaints over false nomination affidavits

By CAShorts DeskPublished Sources: Deccan Herald; India Today; Telangana Today and The Federal (PTI); Supreme Court of India judgment (2016); Election Commission of India

Section 125A: Supreme Court allows private complaints over false nomination affidavits
Illustration (AI-generated)

The Supreme Court on 16 October 2026 held that a private citizen's criminal complaint under Section 125A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, over false or concealed information in a candidate's nomination affidavit is maintainable. The bar in Section 195 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which needs a public servant's or court's complaint, does not apply.

Syllabus: Prelims · Polity & Governance; GS2 · Representation of the People Act; GS2 · Governance & e-Governance

Why this matters for UPSC

GS2 Mains, on salient features of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and electoral reform. Prelims can ask what Section 125A punishes, what Form 26 discloses and which court decides an election petition.

Why it matters

A voter who finds that a candidate has hidden a criminal case, understated assets or lied about an address no longer has to persuade the Election Commission or an official to act. The voter can go straight to a magistrate, and the magistrate can decide whether there is a case. Candidates now face a real chance of prosecution for a false affidavit, which makes careful disclosure more likely. The same open door can be misused by rivals to harass a winner, so much depends on magistrates throwing out weak or vindictive complaints early. The larger issue is whether the voter's right to know about candidates can be enforced by voters themselves.

Prelims pointers

  • Section 125A, RPA 1951: punishment of imprisonment up to six months, or fine, or both, applied notwithstanding anything in any other law.
  • Section 33A, RPA 1951: inserted by Act 72 of 2002 with effect from 24 August 2002; requires additional information on a candidate's criminal antecedents.
  • Rule 4A, Conduct of Election Rules, 1961: the Form 26 affidavit is delivered to the Returning Officer along with the nomination paper.
  • Resurgence India v. Election Commission of India (2014): the voter's right to know is part of Article 19(1)(a); blank particulars make the affidavit nugatory.
  • Section 36(4), RPA 1951: a Returning Officer shall not reject a nomination for a defect that is not of a substantial character.
  • Section 100, RPA 1951: the High Court declares an election void, for instance for improper acceptance of a nomination or non-compliance with the Act.
  • Election Commission of India proposal: raise the Section 125A penalty to two years without the option of fine and add it to the disqualifying offences in Section 8(1).

Practise a UPSC-style question

With reference to Section 125A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, consider the following statements:

1. It penalises a candidate who conceals information in the affidavit filed with the nomination paper.

2. The maximum term of imprisonment it prescribes for the offence is two years.

3. The offence is committed whether the candidate acts personally or through a proposer.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. (a) 1 and 2 only
  2. (b) 2 and 3 only
  3. (c) 1 and 3 only
  4. (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only. Section 125A covers concealment by the candidate or the proposer, with up to six months' imprisonment.

Statement 1: correct. Section 125A covers failing to disclose, giving false information and concealing information in the nomination paper or affidavit.

Statement 2: incorrect. The section allows imprisonment up to six months, or fine, or both; two years is only the Election Commission's proposal.

Statement 3: correct. The section applies to a candidate who acts 'himself or through his proposer' with intent to be elected.

Eliminate: Statement 2 is wrong, since the ceiling is six months. Out: (a), (b), (d).

Trap: Near-miss figure. Two years is the figure the Election Commission has proposed, so it sounds familiar, but the law still says six months.

Remember: Section 125A RPA 1951: false, hidden or missing disclosure; up to six months, or fine, or both.

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