According to Section 33A of the Representation of People’s Act 1951, the candidate is endowed with the duty to reveal certain information and such information can be made accessible for the public due to their right to information. Under this section, the candidate is required to provide information regarding conviction or accusation of any offence punishable with imprisonment for two years or more in a pending case. Along with this, the candidate is also required to disclose detailed information with respect to assets, liabilities and educational qualifications.

This information is to be recorded in the form of an affidavit, sworn before a Magistrate and must be attached with the nomination paper when delivered to the Returning Officer. Under Form 26, no column should be left unmarked or blank. If the information isn’t provided then it can be substituted for Nil or Not Applicable. RO must check whether all the necessary information has been furnished or not. If any candidate fails to disclose the information in the blanks even after reminder, the nomination paper is liable to be rejected by the RO at the time of the scrutiny of the nomination papers.

The Part A or B of the revised Form 26 relates to criminal antecedent and the information must be furnished by the candidate, failure of which will lead to rejection of the nomination.

In addition to the above, Section 125A mentions that, wherein any candidate renders false affidavit or furnishes false information believing it to be false or conceals any information in the nomination paper under right to information (Section 33) shall be punishable for a term of not more than six months or fine or both. Section 75A also makes it pertinent on the candidate to disclose under oath information regarding assets and liabilities also and regarding beneficiaries and necessary information. Therefore, the nomination paper is bound to be rejected in such case.