NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court Wednesday issued notices to chief election commissioner T.N.Seshan and 52 others on a writ petition moved by former external affairs minister I,K.Gujral challenging the May 21 order of the CEC countermanding the polls of the Patna Lok Sabha constituency.
A division bench, comprising Justice Arun Kumar and Justice J.K.Mehra, directed that the notices be returned by July 12.
The notices were also issued to the chief electoral officer (Bihar), the returning officer (Patna) and all the contestants for the seat.
Gujaral, the J Di candidate from Patna, sought the quashing of the CEC’s order onthe grounds that it was “arbitrary and malafide”.
In his writ petition, the former foreign minister sought direction to the CEC to reconsider the matter and order repoll only in the polling stations that were said to have been affected by electoral malpractices as per the reports of the electoral officer (Patna) or the central observers.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 12, 1991
