Jabalpur: The Madhya Pradesh high court on Friday quashed the election of Shahdol MP Gyan Singh but soon after, stayed the order on a petition of the BJP MP who had won a by-poll in 2016.
After the HC single bench of Atul Sridharan nullified his election, the BJP leader immediately filed a petition under the Representation of People’s Act and secured a stay on his disqualification as an MP.
Mahavir Prasad Manjhi, the original petitioner, claimed that Singh had entered into the poll fray in 2016 Lok Sabha by-poll as an independent candidate. Manjhi accused the returning officer of rejecting his personal nomination form under the influence of the ruling BJP. As a result of which, he could not contest.
Manjhi had alleged that his nomination form was rejected over his caste certificate. The court accepted Manjhi’s claim and said his caste certificate was genuine.
The HC accepting the objection of the petitioner, annulled BJP MP Singh’s election victory afterwards. However, the BJP politician managed to get the order stayed for two weeks through an application.
The HC while giving its verdict, cited a Supreme Court judgment in which the apex court had specified that other than a high powered committee, no officer is authorized to probe or quash a caste certificate.
Singh previously served as a minister in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government and won the Lok Sabha by-poll in 2016 by a margin of 57,000 votes over his nearest Congress rival.
Weeks ago, the caste certificate of BJP MP from Betul Jyoti Dhurve was annulled as well.
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