Narayan Rane HC Summons: The Bombay High Court on Friday issued a summons to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Narayan Rane on an election petition filed by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Vinayak Raut seeking cancellation of the former's election from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha constituency.
The BJP MP defeated Raut, a two-term MP, by a margin of 47,858 votes in his debut election to the Lower House. He polled 4,48,514 votes, while Raut secured 4,00,656 votes.
Last month, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader had filed a plea in the high court, claiming that Rane had won the polls by "fraudulent means", and demanded the cancellation of the saffron party leader's election from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat. The plea also sought a ban on Rane from contesting elections and voting for five years.
A single bench of Justice S V Kotwal issued a summons (notice) to Rane and sought his response to the plea. The court has posted the matter for further hearing on September 12.
Raut Seeks Fresh Election On Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha Seat
In his election petition, Raut also sought directions to the Election Commission of India (ECI) for fresh or re-election in the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency. Pending the hearing, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader has sought direction to restrain Rane from continuing as the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg MP.
He alleged that following the end of the poll campaign, a video surfaced in which the BJP leader's supporters were seen distributing money to voters by showing them an EVM and asking them to vote for him through "illegal and unfair" means.
Raut also sought direction from the court to constitute an independent committee to investigate the videos. He cited that as per the Representation of People Act, 1951, the campaign activities are to be halted 48 hours before elections. However, the acts of Rane and his campaigners were in "clear violation of statutory provision".
In May, Raut filed a complaint before the chief electoral officer of Maharashtra. However, when there was no response, Raut moved the high court.