| 
- The Commission has passed an order, dated 20th October, 2011 disqualifying Smt. Umlesh Yadav, elected candidate at General Election to Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, 2007 from 24 - Bisauli Assembly Constituency for being chosen as, and for being, a member of either House of Parliament or of the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council of any State under Section 10A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 for a period of three years from the date of the said order.
- Smt. Yadav had indulged in Paid News during elections and did not disclose the true and correct account of her election expenses before the Commission.
- By suppressing expenditure on ‘Paid News’ and filing an incorrect or false account, the candidate involved is guilty of not merely circumventing the law relating to election expenses but also of resorting to false propaganda by projecting a wrong picture and defrauding the electorate. Such an attempt by the candidate to mislead the electorate runs grossly counter to, and in the face of, the Supreme Court’s solemn declaration in People’s Union for Civil Liberties v/s Union of India and others (AIR 2003 SC 2363) that the electorate should be made aware of the candidate’s antecedents, assets, liabilities and educational qualifications so that they can make an informed choice about their representative while exercising their franchise.
- Apart from being the first political victim of the paid news phenomenon, Ms. Yadav is also the first sitting legislator to be disqualified for excessive expenditure.
- The Press Council of India(PCI), in its order, held the two newspapers(Amar Ujala and Dainik Jagran) guilty of ethical violations.
- The format of the impugned material was such that it would appear as a news report to the layman and the word ADVT printed at the lowest end rather appeared to accompany a small boxed appeal by the candidate.
- In the EC pipeline next are the cases against former Maharashtra Chief Minister and MLA from Bhokar Ashok Chavan and former Jharkhand Chief Minister and Singhbhum MP Madhu Koda.
