An MP from Bihar who defeated Meira Kumar from Sasaram constituency in the 1989, 1991 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections will not be able to cast his vote in the upcoming Presidential poll.
A notification in this regard has been forwarded to the Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar by the Election Commission of India (EC).
A three-term MP, Chedi Paswan was earlier in the JD(U) and had been a minister in Nitish Kumar’s Cabinet before switching over to the BJP.
Reports stated that the reason for being debarred from participating in the Presidential poll could be the Patna High Court order of July 2016 which set aside his election as a BJP MP for concealing information in the affidavit submitted to the EC.
A single judge bench headed by Justice K K Mandal passed the order while hearing a plea filed by advocate Ganga Mishra, who stated that Paswan had concealed information regarding the criminal cases registered against him.
“The high court upheld the plea that three cases filed against Paswan at Mohania police station - 168/2006, 28/2005 and 206/2005 - were not mentioned in the election affidavit. The judge, therefore, set aside his election as Lok Sabha member,” a source told DH.
Paswan pleaded “not guilty” and reiterated that he had done no wrong or concealed any information as the concerned cases were related to the agitations for Durgawati Reservoir Project, and were thus not criminal cases.
Paswan eventually moved the Supreme Court which on August 29, 2016, granted him interim relief and stayed the high court order. The apex court, however, said it “would examine whether or not the disclosure format was in line with the basic sentiments and provisions of the Representation of the People’s Act.”
Passing the order, the Supreme Court bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice P C Pant said the court needed to study whether it was necessary to declare every offence or only the serious ones.
The apex court, in its earlier order, had made it mandatory to declare all offences lodged against a candidate before filing nomination.
“As the matter is sub judice, Paswan, who defeated Meira Kumar in 2014 by over 63,000 votes, won’t be able to cast his vote during the Presidential poll in which she is the Opposition nominee,” the source added.
Rahul tweets from abroad
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was not present when Meira Kumar filed her nomination for the Presidential poll but tweeted praises from abroad, reports DHNS from New Delhi.
“Against the ideology of divisiveness. She represents the values that bind us as a nation and people. Proud to have Meira Kumarji as our candidate,” Rahul tweeted.
The Congress vice president left for Italy a fortnight ago to be besides his ailing grandmother.
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