Chhattisgarh High Court Admits Election Petition Against Congress MLA Devendra Yadav; next hearing on July 31

RaipurThe Congress MLA from Bhilai, Devendra Yadav, has faced a significant setback as the Chhattisgarh High Court has accepted an election petition filed by former Assembly Speaker and BJP MLA Prem Prakash Pandey. The court has deemed the petition, which challenges Yadav’s election, as admissible for hearing.Earlier, MLA Devendra Yadav had filed an application requesting the court not to hear the case. Yadav is accused of providing false information during the election and concealing his criminal record. The next hearing of the case is scheduled for July 31.In the 2023 assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, BJP had fielded former Assembly Speaker Prem Prakash Pandey as their candidate from the Bhilai constituency, while Congress had nominated Devendra Yadav. When the results were announced, Congress’s Devendra Yadav defeated BJP’s Prem Prakash Pandey.Challenging Devendra Yadav’s MLA status, Prem Prakash Pandey filed an election petition in the High Court. The petition accuses Yadav of concealing information about criminal cases and property in his nomination papers, stating that he violated the Representation of the People Act.The petition emphasizes that the Election Commission requires each candidate to provide information about criminal cases and property in an affidavit. Concealing such information from the commission is a violation of the provisions, and if a candidate hides such information, their election can be declared null and void.The petition claims that Devendra Yadav violated the Representation of the People Act by hiding information about his property. Additionally, he did not mention the criminal cases in the affidavit.The petition also argues that MLA Yadav attempted to suppress crucial facts about his property, openly violating the Election Commission’s guidelines and the Representation of the People Act. In 2018-2019, he declared his income as Rs 2 lakh. In the affidavit submitted during the nomination process, he also stated his income as Rs 2 lakh. The primary basis of this election petition is the provisions of the Representation of the People Act. Therefore, the Election Commission has not been made a party to the case.