Uttarakhand HC dismisses plea seeking probe into alleged fraud in panchayat polls

Nainital, Aug 4 (PTI) The Uttarakhand High Court on Monday said allegations of bogus voting in panchayat polls can only be examined through an election petition, as it refused to entertain a writ petition seeking cancellation of votes cast at a particular booth and an independent probe into alleged fake voting involving EC officials.
    Justice Ravindra Maithani heard the petition filed by Rajendra Singh Chauhan.
    It was claimed in the petition that Chauhan had contested the election for the post of member of the panchayat from the Joshi Gothan block in Dehradun district.
    Alleging that 38 fraudulent votes were cast in the election, the petitioner sought cancellation of these votes and a high-level investigation into the matter.
    The State Election Commission submitted that the issue pertained to an election dispute, and as per Article 243-O of the Constitution and Section 131-H of the Uttarakhand Panchayati Raj Act, 2016, such allegations cannot be decided through a writ petition.
    The court also referred to one of its recent orders that cited the Supreme Court’s 2018 observations in the case of West Bengal State Election Commission & Others vs. Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Others, stating that once the election process has commenced, it is a well-established legal principle that it should not be interrupted midway.
    The court emphasised that any challenge to the validity of an election must be addressed under the law through an election petition.
    Referring to a 2021 Supreme Court judgment, the high court also declined to consider the petition claiming bogus voting at booth No. 75 of polling station no. 82 at Junior High School, Datanu (formerly Badanu), located in Block and Tehsil Kalsi, Dehradun.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)