Catholic MP loses seat for corrupt electoral practices

In a landmark judgment, the Kerala High Court has ruled that P.C. Thomas, former Union Minister of State for Law and Justice, had broken the law by appealing to the electorate to vote for him on religious grounds and has held him guilty of corrupt electoral practices, thereby setting aside his election to the Lok Sabha from Muvattupuzha constituency on May 10, 2004.

Delivering the judgement on an election petition filed by the defeated candidate P M Ismail of the CPI–M, Justice C N Ramachandran Nair said that Thomas had committed corrupt practices under Section 123(3) and 123(5) of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951, by appealing to the electorate to vote based on community and religion, through printing and circulation of notices and calendars.

"Consequently, his election is liable to be declared void under Section 100(1)(b)of the Act," the court held.

However, the court has stayed operation of the judgment for a month on the request of counsel for Thomas, for preferring an appeal.

P.C. Thomas had contested as a candidate of the Indian Federal Democratic Party, an ally of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Thomas belongs to the Roman Catholic Church and Muvattupuzha is a Catholic stronghold. His election pamphlet carried a picture of him with Pope John Paul – who died last year.

He defeated Ismail by a narrow margin of 529 votes, securing 2,56,411 votes while the CPI(M) candidate got 2,55,882 votes. He later severed his links with the NDA and joined the Kerala Congress (J).

Subsequently, Ismail contended that Thomas won the poll by committing corrupt practices under Section 123(3) and 123(5) of the RPA.

A pamphlet published in the name of the Catholic Congress leader John Kanchiramattom and a calendar with a photo of Thomas together with the Pope constituted a direct and unambiguous request to members of the Christian community, particularly Catholics, to vote for Thomas purely on grounds of his religious affiliations and community, Ismail complained.

The pamphlet published in the name of Kanchiramattom stated that Thomas should be elected for the betterment of the community and he would be the voice of the community at Delhi.

The pamphlet also stated that Thomas was the former secretary of the Kerala Catholic Congress and also that the Pope himself had emphasized that Catholics should be present in mainstream national life.

The pamphlet also described Thomas as a true representative of Catholics and requested strong support from the community.

The election material also called him a "Jesus witness" which, according to the High Court, was clearly exhorting the voters to cast their votes on communal grounds.

The Court said the pamphlet published in the name of the Catholic leader was a direct appeal to electors to vote on religious grounds.

The Court also ruled that Thomas was also in breach of the law by distributing a calendar which displayed a photograph of him with the Pope.

These pamphlets and calendars were printed by Thomas' election agents and distributed by his partymen with his consent among voters.

The Court also noted that supporters of Thomas used private vehicles to take voters of the Poonjar and Thekkara wards to the polling booths, ignoring election norms.

"It is hard to believe that these things were done without the information of the candidate," the single bench said, agreeing that Thomas had "misused religious symbols and sought votes on communal grounds."

Relying on the evidence of independent witnesses and documents produced by the petitioner, the court concluded that P.C. Thomas had committed corrupt practices as per the Act.

According to sources close to the development, Thomas has claimed that he has never tried to appeal to the voters through religion or religious symbols.

Ismail, however, said that the court order was a victory for democracy and an endorsement of the true verdict of the people.

But because the court has granted Thomas 30 days to launch his appeal, he will be allowed to attend the winter session of the Parliament.

"This is a very interesting verdict," one Kerala lawyer commented, adding, "The court has taken a very acute stand against using religion as a campaign mode, and it will have serious implications in many other cases too."