J&K HC issues notice to EC, govt on plea seeking to declare Chenani assembly poll void

Jammu, Nov 29: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has issued notice to the Election Commission of India, chief electoral officer, and the J&K government on a NPP(India) candidate Harsh Dev Singh’s petition seeking to declare the 2024 assembly election in Chenani segment as null and void.

Former minister Singh lost the election to BJP’s Balwant Singh Mankotia by a margin of 15,611 votes. Singh, who heads the National Panthers Party (India), is the cousin of Mankotia, who polled 47,990 votes.

“The court today directed the issuance of notices to the Election Commission of India, Chief Electoral Officer J&K, and the J&K government, among others, after hearing us,” Singh’s lawyer Aseem Sawhney told PTI.

Justice Rajneesh Oswal issued notices to all parties, returnable within period of four to five weeks, he said.

The court also issued notices to the Home Department, the returning officer of the Chenani assembly constituency, and several others, including the elected candidate from the constituency.

A team of lawyers, led by Sawhney, argued that the Chenani assembly election was vitiated by large-scale corrupt practices, undue influence, use of religion for votes, and dissemination of false and misleading information about Singh.

They also accused government servants including the returning officer of bias in the conduct of the elections.