Sunday, 20 March 2022 | PNS | Nainital
The election of independent candidate Umesh Kumar to the Vidhan Sabha from Khanpur constituency has been challenged in the high court. Despite the holiday on account of Holi on Friday, the division bench of acting chief justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra and justiceManoj Kumar Tiwari heard the petition via video conferencing. The petitioners were unable to provide adequate facts to the court considering which the HC also questioned the sustainability of the petition. The petitioners have sought time to present more material in the court, considering which the division bench set the next date of hearing on March 23.
According to the case details, Laksar resident Virendra Kumar and Janata Cabinet Party chief Bhawana Pandey have alleged that Umesh Kumar concealed various facts in his nomination papers. Submitting a list of 29 criminal cases pending in various courts against the newly elected MLA, the petitioners averred that he had listed only 16 cases with his nomination papers while purportedly concealing the major cases. Considering this, the MLA should be stopped from taking the oath of office and secrecy, and the Election Commission of India should be directed to take action against him under the Representation of People Act. The high court asked for the relevant records which the petitioners were not able to present. Considering this, the court also questioned the sustainability of the petition.
