Kochi: In a significant setback for Congress candidate and Ernakulam District Panchayat Vice President LC George, the Kerala High Court has refused to intervene in the rejection of his nomination papers for the upcoming local body elections. The court observed that similar pleas had been dismissed earlier and questioned why the candidate had not been fully aware of the procedures involved in filing a valid nomination. George had submitted his papers to contest from the Kadamakudy division.
The court clarified that George is free to approach the Election Tribunal if he wishes to pursue the matter further. Justice P. V. Kunhikrishnan noted that the High Court cannot consider the petition at this stage as the nomination process has been completed and the election procedures are already underway. With the election cycle in progress, the single bench stated it cannot interfere.
The rejection of the nomination stemmed from the fact that the proposer who signed George’s papers was a voter from outside the Kadamakudy division. All three sets of papers submitted contained signatures from individuals who were not voters in the division, leading to their dismissal. The Congress leadership, taken by surprise by the rejection, had not prepared any dummy nominations. As a result, the electoral contest in Kadamakudy is now narrowed to a direct fight between the LDF and the BJP.
George has attributed the issue to misinformation from election officials. According to him, the papers were initially examined and deemed error-free. He argues that the issue of signatures from outside the division surfaced only after submission, and though corrected papers were later submitted to the Collector’s chamber, they were rejected on technical grounds. With the High Court’s stance now clear, LC George is expected to take the matter before the Election Tribunal.
