In Brief
The Supreme Court examined an election petition from Karnataka that challenged the election of N.S. Nandiesha Reddy from K.R. Pura Legislative Assembly Constituency. The High Court had voided the election and directed prosecution of the Returning Officer (Ashok Mensinkai) for allegedly giving false evidence. The Supreme Court held that although the assembly term had ended making the election challenge infructuous, the prosecution direction could not be sustained. The court found that inconsistent statements, even if one version was rejected in favour of another, do not establish deliberate perjury without explicit findings of intentional falsehood. It held that prosecution for perjury requires not only proof of intentional false statements but also a court opinion that such prosecution is expedient in the interests of justice, which was absent here.",
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