2014 Election Affidavit Non-Disclosure Case: Nagpur Court Acquits Devendra Fadnavis

A Nagpur court has recently acquitted Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in connection with a case filed over non-disclosure of cases against him in the election affidavit in 2014.

Judicial Magistrate First Class Sangram S Jadhav acquitted Fadnavis under the Representation of People’s Act on Friday.

Therefore, a complaint was filed against Fadnavis by a Nagpur-based lawyer Satish Uke, who is behind bars since his arrest by the ED in April 2022, on allegations of the money-laundering.

Uke alleged that in the affidavit filed during the 2014 assembly elections, Fadnavis didn’t reveal 2 criminal cases filed against him, stating that it was a violation under the Act.

During the proceedings, Fadnavis admitted that his affidavit didn’t have disclosures about 2 cases and stated that it was an inadvertent mistake by his lawyer.

Previously, he submitted that the cases were related to 2 private complaints and there was no deliberate intent to hide them in the affidavit. His lawyer too submitted that while other cases were listed, 2 were left out inadvertently, without any intent to suppress information about them.

The court considered these submissions while acquitting Fadnavis.