HC bench stays order on BMC corporator's election

A division bench of Orissa High Court today granted an interim stay on an impugned order passed last month by a single judge bench of the court annulling the election of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) corporator Sukanti Subudhi.
The bench of Chief Justice Vineet Saran and Justice B R Sarangi stayed the operation of the July 28 order and allowed Subudhi to continue as corporator of BMC until further orders.
The high court, hearing a writ petition filed by one Punam Parida, who had unsuccessfully contested the municipal elections in 2014, had last month annulled Subudhi's election from ward number 18 on the grounds of mismatch in her name and educational information provided in her nomination papers and the accompanying affidavits.

Declaring the election of Subudhi, an independent corporator as "null and void", it had also directed the state government to hold election to the vacant ward within two months.