Ex-Congress MLA Aassan Maulaana disqualified for 3 years over poll expenses

CHENNAI: Former Velachery MLA and Congress candidate JMH Aassan Maulaana has been disqualified from contesting elections for three years for failing to lodge a true and correct account of his election expenses during the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly election.

The Election Commission of India (ECI), in an order issued under Sections 77 and 78 of the Representation of the People Act, held that Maulaana had failed to account for expenditure incurred on newspaper advertisements published during his campaign.

Maulaana had declared his total election expenditure at Rs 17,03,548. During scrutiny, however, the Chennai district election authorities found that advertisements published in 10 newspapers had not been included in his account.

The District Election Officer (DEO) had sought an explanation from Maulaana on whether the advertisements published by the Congress were intended to promote his election. Maulaana denied authorising the advertisements and contended that the Congress had independently borne the expenditure.

The DEO and Expenditure Observer, however, found that the advertisements prominently carried Maulaana's name, photograph and the Congress party's hand symbol, besides an appeal to voters to support the "Velachery Congress candidate Aassan Maulaana JMH". The symbols of other parties in the alliance did not figure in the advertisements.

The DEO consequently determined that Rs 32,05,915 spent on the newspaper advertisements had been understated in Maulaana's election expenditure account.

The ECI accepted the finding and held that the expenditure should have been included in the candidate's account. This would have taken his total election expenditure to Rs 49,09,463, well above the prescribed ceiling of Rs 30.80 lakh for an Assembly constituency.

The Commission concluded that Maulaana, who was elected from Velachery in the 2021 Assembly election, had failed to lodge a true and correct account of his election expenses within the time and in the manner prescribed by law.

Accordingly, the ECI disqualified him for three years from being chosen as, or being, a member of either House of Parliament or of the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council of a state or Union Territory.

No effect on former MLA benefits

The three-year disqualification will prevent Maulaana from contesting elections but will not affect the benefits available to him as a former MLA, including his pension.

Maulaana was elected Velachery MLA in 2021 and served a full five-year term. Election Department officials said the disqualification imposed by the ECI only bars him from contesting elections for three years and does not affect his eligibility for benefits available to former MLAs.

"He need not return the salary and other perks that he received during his tenure as an MLA," officials said.