Tharoor forged papers to fight polls: CPI

Shashi Tharoor who is already on a sticky wicket with the controversy over his alleged stake in the Kochi IPL team erupting might soon have another reason to worry. The Communist Part of India (CPI) is planning to move court against him for allegedly forging documents to include his name in the electoral rolls of the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency.

P Ramachandran Nair, CPI Thiruvananthapuram district secretary said, “Tharoor got his name included in the voters’ list in the constituency using fake documents. Though we had demanded that the Election Commission should probe into the allegation, no action has been taken in this regard so far. So, we have decided to approach the High Court against Tharoor for cheating and violating the Representation of People Act.”

According to Ramachandran Nair, the party is in possession of all the documents needed to prove that Tharoor got into the electoral roll ‘illegally’. “He submitted the application to get enrolled into the electoral rolls on the very day (October 27, 2008) he took a house in Thiruvananthapuram for rent. This means he was not an ordinary resident,” he said.

The Election Commission of India has stipulated that a person should be an ordinary resident, i.e. he or she should have resided in a particular place for a considerable amount of time, to get included in the electoral rolls. “Tharoor was not an ordinary resident in Thiruvananthapuram even for a day at the time he submitted the application for enrolment,” he alleged.

Apart from this, the residential certificate which was submitted along with the application form, was not given by a Revenue official, but was issued by a ward councillor so that he could obtain a ration card. The residential certificate obtained with the recommendation letter from a corporation ward councillor can be used only to get a ration card. Residential certificates for all other purposes have to be issued by a Revenue official, after a thorough inquiry.

“In Tharoor’s case, the residential certificate was issued as per the recommendation letter of Kowdiar ward councillor A Sunilkumar for getting the ration card and was addressed to the City Rationing Officer. This letter was obtained nine days after he took the house for rent. Besides, it cannot be used for any other purpose other than applying for a ration card,” he said.

The documents obtained using Right to Information Act proves that Shashi Tharoor failed to fill in the testimony column in the application form, which gives details about his period of residence. His application should have been rejected for this lapse. As per the section 31 under Representation of People Act, any person who makes any false declaration in writing, for the inclusion of any entry into the electoral roll, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.

“Though there are clear instructions that applications in which the required columns are not filled up should not be accepted, the official who received the application has mentioned Tharoor as a VIP and forwarded the application. However, the State Election Commission accepts only thirteen categories of people as VIPs, but these in no way include Shashi Tharoor, who was not holding any government office while submitting the application,” he charged.

“Also, there was no hearing conducted in his case to verify the documents submitted by him including the rent agreement, the letter from the ward councillor and the residential certificate. The notice sent to Tharoor for conducting the hearing on his application does not have the place, date or time of the hearing. Though all the documents submitted by Tharoor were illegal, the hearing was not held. The EC also failed to take any action against him,” he rued.

“These documents prove that Tharoor was included in the electoral rolls through unfair means. So we will question his candidature and position as a minister in the High Court. We are waiting for the High Court to open after the summer vacation to take up the issue,” he added.

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