The Himachal Pradesh High Court on July 24 issued a notice to actress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Kangana Ranaut in connection with a petition filed by Kinnaur resident Layak Ram Negi, who has challenged Ranaut’s electoral victory from the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency.
According to Live Law India, Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua heard the case and directed Ranaut to respond to the petition by August 21. This legal action comes after Ranaut’s victory in the recently held elections, where she defeated her rival Congress candidate Vikramaditya Singh in the Mandi seat by a margin of 74,755 votes. Ranaut received 537,002 votes, while Singh got 462,267 votes.
Layak Ram Negi, a former forest department employee, has claimed in his petition that his nomination papers were wrongly rejected by the Mandi deputy commissioner. Negi claims that the rejection of the nomination was a significant factor that affected his ability to contest the election.
Negi’s grievance stems from the conduct of his nomination process. He submitted his papers on May 14, 2024, including a “no dues certificate” from his previous employer, the Forest Department. However, the returning officer allegedly demanded additional “no dues certificates” from the electricity, water and telephone departments. Negi was given time until May 15 to submit these documents, which he claims he did. Despite this, the returning officer did not accept the certificates and later rejected his nomination.
Negi argues that this rejection was not fair and has a direct impact on the election result. He believes that if his nomination was accepted, he had a strong chance of winning the election. Therefore, he is seeking court intervention to cancel Ranaut’s election victory.
The High Court, acknowledging the important role played by the nomination process in this dispute, has also made the Returning Officer a respondent.
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Kangana Ranautās Mandi election win challenged, Himachal Pradesh HC issues notice to respond to plea by August 21 first appeared on Bollywood Hungama.
