The Punjab and Haryana high court on Friday dismissed a plea by Haryana minister of state (sports) and BJP MLA Gaurav Gautam’s petition seeking quashing of election petition filed by Congress leader Karan Singh Dalal in the 2024 Palwal assembly election.
Gautam had defeated Dalal with 33,605 votes in October 2024 assembly polls. Dalal had challenged the election alleging use of corrupt practices and using religion to win the polls.
Justice Archana Puri said that petitioner has provided enough “material particulars” needed to conduct a trial in the election. Gautam had termed allegations vague and further claimed that allegations levelled were not supported with requisite material.
On the other hand, Dalal had appended videos and other material to buttress his claims. Beside allegations of corrupt practices, Dalal had claimed that the minister sought votes by referring to “sanatan dharma” and “Hindutva” and participated in religious events in the run up to elections.
The court further added that an election petition has to contain a concise statement of the “material facts” on which the election petitioner relies. “All basic and primary facts which must be proved at the trial by a party, to establish the existence of a cause of action or defence are material facts. The bare allegations are never treated as material facts. The material facts are such facts, which afford a basis for the allegations made in the election petition,” it observed.
The court added that the allegations are of the BJP leader participating, soon before the polling, in the religious gatherings, such as, ‘bhagwat katha’ and ‘khatu shyam gathering’. “However, this participation, the manner, the timing, the gathering and the address made to seek votes and the impact of the same, has to be understood, vis-a-vis the use of ‘Sanatan’/‘Hindutva’. Use of the same, can only be established in this context, in which it has been used, while leading evidence and only thereafter, it can be adjudicated, whether it amounts to corrupt practise, under the garb of religion or not,” it said adding that while simply mentioning words like “Sanatan” or “Hindutva” may not amount to wrongdoing, the full context, including speeches at religious events just before the polling, needed to be tested in the trial.
{{/usCountry}}The court added that the allegations are of the BJP leader participating, soon before the polling, in the religious gatherings, such as, ‘bhagwat katha’ and ‘khatu shyam gathering’. “However, this participation, the manner, the timing, the gathering and the address made to seek votes and the impact of the same, has to be understood, vis-a-vis the use of ‘Sanatan’/‘Hindutva’. Use of the same, can only be established in this context, in which it has been used, while leading evidence and only thereafter, it can be adjudicated, whether it amounts to corrupt practise, under the garb of religion or not,” it said adding that while simply mentioning words like “Sanatan” or “Hindutva” may not amount to wrongdoing, the full context, including speeches at religious events just before the polling, needed to be tested in the trial.
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