HC seeks Satyendra Jain's response on plea against his election
Aug 31, 2020
New Delhi [India], Aug 31 : The Delhi High Court on Monday sought the response of Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain on a petition filed by BJP leader SC Vats challenging his election to the Assembly and accusing him of involving in illegal and corrupt practices.
A single-judge bench of Justice Mukta Gupta issued notice to Jain and Returning Ofiicer, Chief Election Officer and others asking them to file their response on the plea.
Vats, in his plea filed through advocate Sahil Ahuja, sought to set aside the election of Jain held in Shakur Basti assembly constituency and declare it as void. He also sought directions to the Returning Officer calling for the records pertaining to the elections held in Shakur Basti and non-compliance to the guidelines complained of in the present petition.
Vats was the runner-up from Shakur Basti constituency, which was held in February this year. He has sought to declare him as the successful candidate from Shakur Basti assembly seat.
The petition also sought to restrain Jain from attending the Legislative Assembly and drawing emoluments or any other payment till the pendency of his petition.
"That from the result it is apparent that in Assembly Elections 2020 main contest was only between the petitioner and the Respondent no.1 (Jain) who was already a Minister in Delhi Cabinet, and the margin between both the candidates is of 7592 votes," the plea said.
Vats claimed that Jain has not revealed his actual expenses incurred during the election campaign. He also accused Jain of bribing people and influencing free and fair elections.
"To secure the victory in the Delhi Assembly Election-2020, respondent number 1 (Jain) committed serious unlawful and corrupt practices under Sections 123(1), (2). (4), (6) and (8) of the Representation of People Act, 1951 read with Section 77 of the said Act read with Rule 90 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 during the process elections and also committed various offences under criminal law during that period," it added.
