Section 125A of the RPA 1951
Topic: Electoral Reforms: Money, Criminalisation and Simultaneous Elections · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Section 125A of the Representation of the People Act 1951 makes it a crime to hide information or give false information in the candidate affidavit. This affidavit (Form 26) is the sworn statement a candidate files with the nomination paper. It covers criminal cases, assets, liabilities and education. The punishment is up to six months in jail, a fine, or both. The rule matters because disclosure is useful only if lying has a cost.
Example
Suppose a candidate leaves out a pending criminal case from their affidavit. They can be prosecuted under Section 125A. The ECI says the penalty is too light. It wants up to two years' jail plus disqualification, and the Law Commission's 255th report (2015) also wanted false affidavits made an electoral offence.
Don't confuse with
- Section 8 of the RPA 1951: it disqualifies a person after conviction for certain offences. A conviction under Section 125A carries only a short sentence, so it does not by itself cause disqualification under the general two-year rule.
Related concepts
- Criminalisation of politics
- Vohra Committee (1993)
- ADR case
- PUCL disclosure case
- Candidate affidavit
- Lok Prahari case
- Rambabu Singh Thakur case