HC reserves verdict on BJP MLA Devender Attri’s plea to dismiss election petition

The Punjab and Haryana High Court today reserved its judgment on an application filed by Devender Attri — a BJP MLA from Uchana. He was seeking dismissal of the election petition filed against him by Bijendra Singh, a Congress candidate.

Bijendra Singh had filed an election petition against Attri, seeking recounting of votes and alleging corrupt practices earlier against him. Later on, Bijendra Singh filed amended petition, dropping the allegations of corrupt practices and confining his petition only to the recounting of votes.

Appearing on Attri’s behalf, senior advocate Satya Pal Jain and counsel Dheeraj Jain submitted that the amended election petition by Bijendra Singh had not been filed in accordance with law and was in violation of Section 81 of the RPA Act.

Jain further submitted that the election petition had not been presented personally by the petitioner but by his lawyer, which is not permissible in law. He said the election petition supplied to the returned candidate was only a photocopy of the original, which was not signed or attested to be a true copy by the petitioner.

Senior advocate Abhimanyu Tiwari, appearing for the petitioner Bijendra Singh, submitted that the filing of amended petition would relate back to the date of original petition and that such an application of the returned candidate had already been dismissed. He further submitted that the copy of the election petition supplied to the returned candidate was the true copy of the election petition and the signatures of the petitioner and the lawyers were visible on the copy supplied to the respondent. As such, the election petition was not liable to be dismissed at the threshold. Justice Anoop Chitkara reserved orders after hearing both the sides.