Disqualified MP Narottam Mishra file petition against EC order

Mishra , who is also parliamentary affairs and public relations minister, alleged that the Election Commission’s order was “based on imagination and possibilities”.

Published on: Jun 27, 2017, 23:13:42 IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | By Neeraj Santoshi

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Madhya Pradesh minister Narottam Mishra, who was disqualified by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for three years from contesting polls for allegedly filing wrong accounts of election expenditure in 2008 assembly elections, on Tuesday filed a petition at the Gwalior bench of the state high court to seek stay on the EC order.

Talking to HT, Narottam Mishra said that the petition was filed by his lawyer MPS Raghuvanshi to seek stay on the EC order as there was “no proof that he had paid money for the news”.

Mishra said his lawyer made plea to the court that until the investigation was not fully completed into the matter, there should be stay on the EC order.

Mishra , who is also parliamentary affairs and public relations minister, alleged EC’s order was “anomalous and based on imagination and possibilities”.

MPS Raghuvanshi told HT that he filed over 2500-page petition in the court to seek stay on the EC order.

“We have made a plea to the court that EC order is not based on any proof that Narottam Mishra gave money for the news. So we are urging the court that until the investigation into the matter is not completed, the court should stay the order”, he said.

Raghuvanshi said the court will tentatively hear the petition on June 29.

The EC order came on Saturday on a complaint by Rajendra Bharti, who had fought the 2008 elections as a BSP candidate, but is now with the Congress. In its order, EC stated that Narottam, Mishra “was complicit in the publication of the impugned paid news as news items and has derived benefit from and taken advantage of the same, without reporting or acknowledging it, and thereby attempting to bypass the rigours of the law”.

In the past, Narottam Mishra had moved the state high court urging the court to quash the investigation against him by the EC by declaring the Section 10 of representation of people act outside the powers of ECI. But court rejected his plea.

Meanwhile Purushaindra Kaurav , advocate general of MP, told HT that Mishra will remain MLA till Governor takes a decision on the EC order. “Till Governor doesn’t issue a separate order declaring Mishra’s assembly seat as vacant, he will continue to be the MLA”, he said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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