EC sets up panel to study HC order invalidating election of Gujarat minister

After the Gujarat High Court invalidated the election of state minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama from the Dholka assembly seat in 2017, the Election Commission on Tuesday set up a three-member committee to study the order and put up its findings before the poll panel.

Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, who is in the US, discussed the issue with EC Secretary General Umesh Sinha and decided to set up the three-member committee of officers to study judgment, an official statement said.

The committee will be put across its findings before the commission at the earliest, it said.

Chudasama had won by a thin margin and the candidate who lost had filed an election petition before the Gujarat High Court alleging corrupt practice.

The EC had already asked the Gujarat government to initiate disciplinary action against the then returning officer Dhaval Jani.

Jani was also removed from election duties during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in view of the interim order of the high court. He had reportedly not followed EC guidelines in counting and re-verifying postal ballots.