Himachal HC rejects Harsh Mahajan’s plea to defer Singhvi case hearing; Kangana Ranaut gets 3 weeks to respond
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has dismissed a petition by BJP Rajya Sabha MP Harsh Mahajan seeking to defer the hearing of a petition involving senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi until after the Telangana elections.
Mahajan’s counsel, appearing via video-conferencing, had argued for the postponement, stating that Singhvi, the Congress candidate who lost from Himachal, was contesting the Rajya Sabha elections from Telangana. He suggested that if Singhvi were to win, the petition challenging the Rajya Sabha elections would become irrelevant.
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However, Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua rejected this request, emphasising the need to proceed with the case. Representing Singhvi, senior Congress leader and Supreme Court advocate P Chidambaram countered that even if Singhvi wins the Telangana seat, the petition should not be dismissed outright.
Citing provisions from the Representation of the People Act, 1951, he highlighted that a candidate winning from two seats must resign from one within 14 days, which does not apply in this scenario. The court, after hearing both sides, denied Mahajan’s plea and directed the respondent to argue on Order 7 Rule 11. The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
In a separate case, the Himachal Pradesh High Court also addressed a petition challenging the legality of the Mandi Lok Sabha election. The petitioner alleged that independent candidate Layak Ram Negi’s nomination papers were unjustly rejected due to the absence of a no-objection certificate, preventing him from contesting the election.
Respondent Kangana Ranaut’s counsel requested additional time to file a response. Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua granted the request, ordering Kangana to submit her reply within three weeks.
