The Election Commission of India (ECI) has disqualified J.M.H. Aassan Maulaana, who was elected from the Velachery Assembly constituency in Chennai on a Congress ticket in the 2021 Assembly elections, from contesting elections for a period of three years from August 2026.

According to the Election Commission’s order, the disqualification bars Mr. Maulaana from contesting elections to become a member of either the House of Parliament or of the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council of a State or Union Territory. The Order said, Mr. Maulaana failed to lodge a true and correct account of his election expenses within the time and in the manner required under the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

According to the order, Mr. Maulaana had lodged his account of election expenses, declaring a total expenditure of ₹17,03,548, with the District Election Officer (DEO), Chennai, on May 24, 2021, within the prescribed time. However, the EC said the Returning Officer had issued a notice to Mr. Maulaana on March 30, 2021, raising the issue of whether advertisements published by the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) in 10 newspapers were intended to promote his election.

Understatement of expenses

On March 31, 2021, Mr. Maulaana informed the EC that the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee had borne the stated advertisement expenses independently. However, the DEO, Chennai, in his scrutiny report on June 19, 2021, did not accept the account and determined that there had been an understatement of ₹32,05,915 in respect of the advertisements, the order said.

The Commission said with the understated amount of ₹32,05,915 added to the declared expenditure of ₹17,03,548, the total expenditure came to ₹49,09,463, exceeding the then permissible ceiling of ₹30.80 lakh prescribed under Rule 90 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.

Mr. Maulaana unsuccessfully contested the 2026 Assembly election from Velachery Assembly segment and finished third.