The Election Commission of India has directed to constitute a three-member committee on May 13, 2020. Being that, The committee has to examine the details of the judgment of the Gujarat High Court; concerning the Dhokla Assembly Constituency in Gujarat.
On May 12, 2020, the Gujarat High Court while hearing a petition by Congress candidate Ashwin Rathore, declared the election of state law and education Minister, Bhupendrasinh Chudasama as void. The Single Bench consisting of Justice Paresh Upadhyay delivered the judgment. Adding to it, the court called the elections to be based on malpractices and manipulation including irregularities in counting postal ballots. In effect, the Election Commission directed the state government to initiate disciplinary action against the then returning officer Dhaval Jani.
Notably, Mr. Chudasama won by a narrow margin. The Congress Candidate Ashwin Rathore challenged the result. He asserted in his petition that the Returning Officer has illegally rejected certain votes cast through postal ballots. Being that, the court invalidated the elections of Mr. Chudasama.
Meanwhile, Umesh Sinha, Secretary General will head the committee constituted by the Election commission. Furthermore, the Commission observed in the view of interim order by the high court; Mr. Jani was also removed from election duties during Lok Sabha Elections.
