In Brief
An election petitioner challenged the election of Peddireddigari Ramachandra Reddy from the Punganur Assembly Constituency in Andhra Pradesh, alleging improper acceptance of his nomination form due to multiple deficiencies including missing signatures, blank columns, and discrepancies in asset declarations. The High Court struck out certain paragraphs of the petition as frivolous and dismissed it in limine for lacking cause of action. The Supreme Court held that the petition disclosed a valid cause of action when read as a whole. The Court clarified that at the threshold stage, courts cannot examine the merits of allegations but must confine themselves to checking institutional defects. Where improper acceptance of a returned candidate's nomination is alleged, there is no requirement to prove the election result was materially affected. The appeals were allowed, the petition was restored to the High Court for trial, and the parties' applications were restored for determination on their merits.
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.