Hyderabad: Secondary education minister K Parthasarathy has landed in further trouble, with the Election Commission (EC) on Monday directing the returning officer of Krishna district to take action against him for filing an incomplete affidavit in the 2009 elections and concealing the FERA violation case in which he was subsequently convicted. Sources said that the EC has directed the Krishna district collector and returning officer M Jyothy Buddha Prakash to proceed against the minister legally.
The collector would now direct the Penamaluru Assembly segment returning officer and Vijayawada revenue divisional officer (RDO) to file a petition in the local court. The minister could either face imprisonment for six months, or a fine or permanent debarment from contesting elections. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Bhanwarlal confirmed that the Returning Officer would move court. “We have given orders a month back in this regard,” he said.
Bhanwarlal had earlier asked the Krishna district collector to verify the election affidavits filed by Parthasarathy. The move came after former IAS officer EAS Sarma lodged a complaint stating that the minister had concealed the fact that he was involved in a case relating to violation of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA).
However, Parthasarathy told reporters at the Secretariat recently that he had mentioned the FERA case in the 2004 affidavit. He said he did not mention it in 2009 as he was not on the board of directors of the company then. The minister also said that there would be no permanent debarment from contesting elections. There were past judgements of the Supreme Court in this regard and at the most the court may impose a fine or six months jail, he said.
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