Jaipur, June 30 (IANS) The Rajasthan High Court has dismissed an election petition seeking to set aside the election of Independent Bayana MLA Ritu Banawat, holding that the allegations raised were insufficient to invalidate the electoral mandate.

The court also imposed a cost of Rs one lakh on Banawat for deliberately attempting to evade service of court summons. The order was passed by Justice Sudesh Bansal on a petition filed by Purushottam Lal, a candidate from the Bayana Assembly constituency in the 2023 Rajasthan Assembly elections.

The High Court expressed strong displeasure over Banawat’s conduct during the proceedings, observing that she had “deliberately and consciously” adopted various methods to avoid receiving court summons. The court noted that repeated attempts to serve the notice were unsuccessful, forcing it to adopt an alternative mode of service through the Secretary of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly.

Taking serious note of the conduct, the court imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on the MLA. The election petition alleged that Banawat had failed to disclose complete and accurate information regarding her assets and liabilities while filing her nomination papers for the 2023 Assembly elections.

The petitioner contended that the alleged omissions amounted to a corrupt practice under election law and warranted cancellation of her election. According to the petition, Purushottam Lal secured 689 votes, while Banawat won the Bayana seat by polling over one lakh votes.

Appearing for Banawat, Senior Advocate R.N. Mathur argued that all material information required under law had been duly disclosed. He submitted that there was no legal requirement to disclose the bank account opened exclusively for election expenses. He further argued that agricultural income could legitimately be earned by a homemaker, and therefore the allegations lacked merit.

After considering the submissions, the High Court dismissed the election petition, ruling that the alleged non-disclosures were neither substantial nor sufficient to invalidate the election.

The court observed that overturning the mandate of the electorate on the basis of minor, technical and inconsequential omissions relating to an elected candidate’s assets would have serious implications for the democratic process.

With these observations, the High Court upheld Banawat’s election while directing her to pay Rs one lakh as costs for attempting to evade the court’s summons.

–IANS

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