The Delhi High Court on Friday allowed the Election Commission of India's plea to release the EVMs used in the polls of Kalkaji assembly constituency seat won by former chief minister Atishi. Advocate Siddhant Kumar, representing the ECI, sought the release of the EVMs and VVPAT in light of their use in the upcoming Bihar elections.
Justice Jyoti Singh partially allowed the application saying the Election Commission of India (ECI) may not preserve the electronic voting machines (EVM) but the voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips till further orders.
The application was filed in a pending petition challenging Atishi's election win on the ground of "corrupt practices".
The application was filed as the court, in its interim order, directed the ECI, the returning officer and the police to preserve all the records of the Kalkaji constituency polls and said they could seek a modification of its order in future.
The counsel for the petitioners said they had no objection to the release of EVMs but VVPAT slips were required to be preserved.
The case is set to come up on July 30.
Petitioners Kamaljit Singh Duggal and Ayush Rana, who live in Kalkaji, challenged the AAP leader's win, claiming she and her polling agents were involved in corrupt practices.
The petition, filed through advocate T Singhdev, sought to declare her election null and void.
Atishi won from the Kalkaji seat defeating her BJP rival Ramesh Bidhuri by 3,521 votes.
Voting for the election was held on February 5 and results were declared on February 8.
The plea alleged that on February 4, a day before the polling was to be held, Atishi's close associates were caught with Rs 5 lakh in cash in the constituency and were allegedly acting on her directions to bribe voters to "buy votes" in her favour.
Atishi was accused of "bribery" under Section I23 (I)(A) of the Representative of People Act and using her status as the then chief minister to gain an unfair advantage over other candidates in the constituency.
"The respondent 1 (Atishi) misused her official position of power to subsidise her electioneering campaign and expand her reach to voters by using official vehicles and governmental employees to canvas for her support," it alleged.
The plea called her of being guilty of committing electoral offences, violating the 48-hours of pre-election silence period and for filing false affidavit by not disclosing a pending criminal case against her which was lodged on January 11 at Govind Puri Police Station.
#Pahalgam Terrorist Attack
India pulled the plug on IWT when Pakistanis are fighting over water
Pakistan alleges terror charge on India in its statement
What makes this India-Pakistan standoff more dangerous than past ones
The application was filed in a pending petition challenging Atishi's election win on the ground of "corrupt practices".
The application was filed as the court, in its interim order, directed the ECI, the returning officer and the police to preserve all the records of the Kalkaji constituency polls and said they could seek a modification of its order in future.
The counsel for the petitioners said they had no objection to the release of EVMs but VVPAT slips were required to be preserved.
The case is set to come up on July 30.
Petitioners Kamaljit Singh Duggal and Ayush Rana, who live in Kalkaji, challenged the AAP leader's win, claiming she and her polling agents were involved in corrupt practices.
The petition, filed through advocate T Singhdev, sought to declare her election null and void.
Atishi won from the Kalkaji seat defeating her BJP rival Ramesh Bidhuri by 3,521 votes.
Voting for the election was held on February 5 and results were declared on February 8.
The plea alleged that on February 4, a day before the polling was to be held, Atishi's close associates were caught with Rs 5 lakh in cash in the constituency and were allegedly acting on her directions to bribe voters to "buy votes" in her favour.
Atishi was accused of "bribery" under Section I23 (I)(A) of the Representative of People Act and using her status as the then chief minister to gain an unfair advantage over other candidates in the constituency.
"The respondent 1 (Atishi) misused her official position of power to subsidise her electioneering campaign and expand her reach to voters by using official vehicles and governmental employees to canvas for her support," it alleged.
The plea called her of being guilty of committing electoral offences, violating the 48-hours of pre-election silence period and for filing false affidavit by not disclosing a pending criminal case against her which was lodged on January 11 at Govind Puri Police Station.
