Kolkata, Sept. 25 -- The Calcutta High Court on Thursday reserved its order on a Congress petition questioning the scrutiny of the nomination papers of BJP's Nandigram bypoll candidate Hasirani Rath over an alleged mismatch between her declared age and educational record.
Appearing before Justice Krishna Rao, senior advocate Ritzu Ghosal argued that Rath's affidavit records her as being above 60, while also stating that she passed the Madhyamik examination in 1965. The Congress contended that the apparent inconsistency should have prompted verification by the Returning Officer during scrutiny.
The petitioner clarified that it was not seeking cancellation of Rath's candidature or a halt to the election. Its challenge, Ghosal said, concerned the manner in which the Election Commission and Returning Officer had discharged their statutory responsibilities. The respondents opposed the plea, pointing out that objections to nominations were required to be raised during the prescribed scrutiny process. The Election Commission also argued that no objection had been raised by the Congress at that stage and that an incorrect age declaration, unless relevant to eligibility, would not necessarily invalidate a nomination.
The court examined whether it could call for election records after the statutory stage had passed and whether a third party could question the scrutiny process. The Nandigram bypoll is scheduled for October 6, with counting
on October 9.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.