GUJARAT EDUCATION MINISTER CHUDASAMA’S ELECTION DECLARED VOID FOR MALPRACTICES

THE RETURNING OFFICER WAS ‘HAND IN GLOVES’ WITH THE BJP LEADER AND POSTAL BALLOTS WERE REJECTED ILLEGALLY, GUJARAT HIGH COURT SAID

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday declared state minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama's election in 2017 as void on the grounds of malpractices and manipulation.

The returning officer was "hand in gloves" with the BJP leader and postal ballots were rejected illegally, it said.

Congress candidate Ashwin Rathod had challenged his BJP rival's victory from Dholka constituency by a margin of mere 327 votes in the 2017 Gujarat Assembly polls.

Justice Paresh Upadhyay also rejected Chudasama's request for a stay so that he could file an appeal.

The high court held that Returning Officer Dhaval Jani "illegally rejected" 429 postal ballots during the counting of votes, while the victory margin was only 327.

The procedure adopted for counting of votes was "against the orders of the Election Commission of India (EC)" and illegal, Justice Upadhyay said.

Further, Chudasama indulged in "corrupt practice" under section 123 (7) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and was "hand-in-gloves with the then returning officer Dhaval Jani", the judge said.

All three facts materially affected the outcome of the election, it said, declaring it as void.

At the same time, the court also rejected petitioner Rathod's prayer that he be declared as elected from the constituency.

Rejecting Chudasama's request for a stay to the order, the court said an election "cannot be permitted to hold the field any further" where 429 postal ballots were excluded from counting "behind everybody's back, including the Observer nominated by the Election Commission," and election record "systematically manipulated" to conceal this fact.

The RO defied relevant orders and instructions of the EC, including mandatory instructions regarding the procedure of counting of votes, announcement of result and preparation of Final Result Sheet `Form 20' to conceal this, the court said.

Chudasama is currently the minister for education, law and justice, legislative and parliamentary affairs and some other departments in the Vijay Rupani government.

Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said the decision will be challenged in the Supreme Court.

"The order of the Gujarat High Court is shocking for all of us. The order to cancel election of Bhupendrasinhji is sad news. Naturally, Bhupendrasinhji is getting legal advice regarding the order and steps are being taken to appeal against it in the Supreme Court.

"We are confident of getting justice and stay on this order," he said.