Allahabad High Court directs EC to preserve documents, CCTV footage of Aligarh Lok Sabha poll

Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has directed the Election Commission (EC) to preserve all documents and CCTV footage relating to the 2024 polls in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh Lok Sabha constituency till the disposal of an election petition filed by Samajwadi Party candidate Chaudhary Bijendra Singh.

A division bench of Justice Shekhar B Saraf and Justice Vipin Chandra Dixit also granted the counsel representing the EC four weeks' time to file a counter affidavit and fixed January 27, 2025 for next hearing.

In the Aligarh Lok Sabha seat, SP's Singh fought a keen contest and was defeated by BJP's Satish Gautam by a margin of 15,647 votes. While Gautam polled 501,834 votes, Singh could manage to get 486,187 votes.

Singh has moved the high court challenging the Gautam's victory in the elections. In his election plea, Singh has claimed that 11 voting machines were not opened during the vote count and that election officials were working under government pressure.

In its order dated November 26, the high court said, "...We make it clear that all the documents in relation to the election including the videography/ CCTV footage, Form 17- C and other documents sought by the petitioner in the present writ petition are maintained by the Election Commission and that should not be destroyed in any manner till the next date."