HC upholds Supriya Sule’s 2009 election

In a judgment that comes as major relief for Supriya Sule, daughter of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and a member of Parliament (MP) from Baramati, the Bombay high court upheld her election in the 2009 polls.

Justice RC Chavan, while dismissing the petition filed by Mrinalini Kakade, who lost the last Lok Sabha election against Sule, observed, “Persons holding high offices should not have extra-territorial interests that may compromise the interest of India. However, merely holding property or having business interests in a foreign country or abiding by the laws of a host country does not mean she (Sule) owes adherence or allegiance to that country.”

Kakade had filed a petition seeking Sule’s disqualification on the grounds that the latter had acquired citizenship of Singapore  to purchase property there.

 Sule and her husband Sadanand have shares in two Singapore companies, one of which owns a flat there, where they reside while visiting. The couple has acquired an entry permit, as required by Singapore law, and also obtained identity cards under the National Registration Act there.

Justice Chavan added that if it were to be held that business interests in a foreign country would go against India’s interests, Indians would have to confine business to this country only and not pursue the same abroad.