The Himachal Pradesh High Court has issued notices to the Election Commission of India, the Central and state governments, the returning officer and Rajya Sabha MP Anurag Sharma on a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging Sharma’s election to the Rajya Sabha from Himachal Pradesh.
Hearing a PIL filed by advocate Vinay Sharma, a bench comprising Chief Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia and Justice Bipin Chander Negi directed all respondents to submit their replies by May 21.
Congress candidate Anurag Sharma was elected unopposed to the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal Pradesh on March 9.
The petition alleges that Sharma was holding contracts with the state government at the time of filing his nomination papers, which made him ineligible to contest the election.
Referring to Section 9A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the petitioner argued that a candidate having an active government contract at the time of nomination stands disqualified.
The plea further claimed that seven contracts linked to Sharma were active when he filed his nomination, but the returning officer allegedly failed to properly scrutinise the documents and accepted his nomination.
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