Poll office wants plea against Joshi dismissed
Friday, 19/12/2014
http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
CHANDIGARH: The office of the chief electoral officer (CEO), Punjab, on Thursday informed the Punjab and Haryana high court that no discrepancies were found in documents submitted by Anil Joshi, minister for local bodies and medical education and research, at the time of the electoral process for the 2012 assembly elections.
In an affidavit, the CEO’s office stated that at the time of the elections, Joshi was a voter at only one place in Amritsar North assembly constituency and it had not got any complaint against him during the poll process.
The CEO’s office also denied the petitioner’s allegation that his petition got delayed by more than six months due to non-completion of inquiry proceedings. It submitted that the poll result was declared on March 3, 2012, and the petitioner made a complaint in November that year, more than five months after the expiry of the stipulated time to file election petitions.
About the double entry in the electoral rolls of 2006 to 2008, the CEO’s office submitted that the matter was sub judice.
It asked the HC to dismiss the petition and put the cost on the petitioner, keeping in view the facts submitted in its affidavit.
Meanwhile, Joshi’s counsel sought time to file a reply, which was agreed to by the court. The latter posted the matter for further hearing for January 19.
Amritsar lawyer Vaneet Mahajan had approached the court seeking Joshi’s disqualification on the grounds that the latter was not a voter on any electoral list in Punjab at the time of the assembly polls.
