Special Court Dismisses Complaint against K’taka Ex-CM Kumaraswamy

A special MP/MLA Court in Bengaluru has dismissed a private complaint against JD(S) leader and former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy.

The complaint alleged that Kumaraswamy had provided false information in the affidavit submitted with the nomination papers during the 2018 Assembly elections concerning his second wife, Radhika Kumaraswamy, and their children, Nikhil Kumaraswamy and Shamika Kumaraswamy.

The alleged offenses included Section 181 (false statement under oath) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 125A (failure to furnish information or providing false information) of The Representation of People Act. The complaint contended that Kumaraswamy had not disclosed details of these individuals, and the Section 181 accusation pertained to furnishing false information.

In a recent judgment, Special Court judge Preeth J ruled, “From the very complaint averments, it goes to show that the accused has not given any false statement in his affidavit. According to the complainant itself, the accused has not disclosed their particulars. Giving false statements and not disclosing the information stand on different footings. As such, no offense under Section 181 of IPC is said to have been committed by the accused.”

The court emphasized that, to proceed with a case under Section 181, a written complaint should be submitted by the concerned public servant or a public servant to whom the complainant is administratively subordinate.

Regarding Section 125A of the RP Act, the Court observed a lack of evidence proving Radhika Kumaraswamy’s status as Kumaraswamy’s wife. The judgment stated, “Just because the complainant is saying that she is the second wife, that too without any single piece of document, this court even at this stage cannot register any criminal case against the accused for not having shown the name of Radhika Kumaraswamy as his second wife.”

The court further clarified, “Furthermore, during the lifetime of the first wife, there cannot be any concept of a second wife under the prevailing law.”

Addressing the allegation concerning information about Kumaraswamy’s children, the court noted that it was not required under the rules. “Admittedly, there is no column shown to mention about the information of the children of the candidate, except the spouse and her properties and such other information,” the court noted.

Dismissing the private complaint, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate ordered the dismissal of the complaint filed under Section 200 of Cr.P.C. for the alleged offense under Section 181 of IPC and Section 125A of RP Act.