Jabalpur: In a setback to the ruling BJP, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has declared as void the 2018 election of BJP MLA Rahul Singh Lodhi on Kharagpur assembly seat in Tikamgarh district for improper filing of nomination papers. A single bench of Justice Nandita Dubey while declaring the election as void also reprimanded the Returning Officer at the time for dereliction of duties while accepting the nomination papers of Lodhi.
Also read: MP HC dismisses petition against Indore LS win of BJP's Lalwani
The HC also passed instructions to the Madhya Pradesh State Electoral Officer and the Election Commission of India (ECI) for necessary action in this regard. Besides, the court also directed to stop all the benefits being given to Lodhi as MLA. The HC passed the orders while hearing a plea of Congress leader Chanda Singh Gaur whom Lodhi had defeated by over 11,000 votes.
Gaur argued that Lodhi had submitted two sets of nomination forms with different information regarding his status as a partner in RS Construction that had a contract with Madhya Pradesh Rural Road Development Authority (MPRRDA). Gaur said that this affected the outcome of the election. The court declared it a violation of Section-134 of the Representation of the People Act.
Gaur further alleged that Lodhi had failed to pay a fine of Rs 10,000 imposed on him by the court in 2014, which Lodhi was supposed to pay him. Gaur said that Lodhi suppressed the information in his nomination papers.
