HC issues notice to Delhi law minister

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the city's law minister, Jitendra Singh Tomar, and the Election Commission on a plea filed by BJP leader Nand Kishore Garg seeking setting aside of Tomar's election from the Tri Nagar assembly constituency.

Justice Manmohan sought response from the Election Commission of India and Tomar on May 18 on the plea by Garg -- who had fought the February 7 assembly election against Tomar -- saying that he willfully suppressed his educational qualification in the affidavit filed along with his nomination form.

It also asked the Election Commission to preserve all the documents filed during the assembly polls by AAP's Tomar and submit these in sealed cover before it.

The plea has alleged that Tomar had enrolled himself as an advocate on the basis of a "fake and bogus" graduation degree.

The plea said: "Tomar's election had been materially affected by deliberate concealment, misrepresentation, wrong declaration and willful suppression of the educational qualification in the affidavit filed along with the nomination form.

"Tomar, at the time of filing the nomination, and thereafter, has continued to misrepresent himself to be a law graduate and advocate and has thus been successful in exercising undue influence over the voters, which amounts to corrupt practice within the meaning of the Representation of the Peoples Act," the plea said

A different bench is also dealing with the issue of validity of Tomar's LLB degree after a petition, filed in February, alleged that Tomar had taken admission into the LLB course at the Bishwanath Singh Institute of Legal Study College in Bihar on the basis of a fake graduation degree.

The Bar Council of Delhi also recently issued notice to Tomar, on the basis of a reply filed by the Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, which had said that the undergraduate degree, marksheets and roll number submitted by Tomar at the time of his admission to the LLB course were "completely fake".