HC admits plea challenging BJD MLA Sahoo’s election

Cuttack: The Orissa high court has admitted a petition by BJP leader Pratyusha Rajeswari Singh, challenging the of Arun Kumar Sahoo, the BJD MLA from Nayagarh. Sahoo was elected for the fifth time in a row from Nayagarh constituency with a share of 81,959 (48.74%) in the 2024 election, results of which were declared in June. Singh, who lost to Sahoo by a margin of 439 votes, secured 81,520 votes (48.48 %).
After a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, the single judge bench of Justice Ananda Chandra Behera issued a notice to Sahoo, asking him to file a written statement and fixed August 28 for settlement of the matter.]
While issuing the notice, Justice Behera noted that the petition has sought for declaring the election of Sahoo as void on the ground of improper acceptance of his nomination papers by the returning officer despite non-compliance with statutory provisions.
The petition sought quashing of Sahoo’s election for not furnishing original affidavits with each set of nomination papers, the detailed and correct particulars of his movable and immovable assets with specification of his shares in the joint bank account and non-disclosure of his shares and value of his share in his ancestral properties, Justice Behera noted in the order.