NEW DELHI: The Himachal Pradesh high court on Wednesday issued a notice to Kangana Ranaut, the BJP Lok Sabha member from Mandi, in response to a petition filed by a Kinnaur resident seeking to set aside her .
The petitioner, Layak Ram Negi, alleges that his nomination papers were wrongly rejected, affecting the election’s outcome. Justice Jyotsna Rewal has directed Ranaut to file a reply by August 21.
Ranaut secured the Mandi Lok Sabha seat with 5,37,002 votes, defeating her rival Congress candidate Vikramaditya Singh, who garnered 4,62,267 votes, by a margin of 74,755 votes.
Layak Ram Negi, an ex-forest department employee, claims his nomination papers were improperly dismissed by the returning officer, who is the Deputy Commissioner of Mandi. According to Negi, he had taken premature retirement and provided a “no dues certificate” from his department along with his nomination papers.
Negi stated, “However, he was given a day to produce the ‘no due certificate’ from the electricity, water, and telephone departments and when he submitted them, the returning officer did not accept them and rejected the nomination papers.”
The petitioner argues that his participation in the election could have resulted in a different outcome had his papers been accepted. He asks that the election of Ranaut be annulled. Negi also made the returning officer a party to his petition.
Justice Jyotsna Rewal has directed Kangana Ranaut to file a reply by August 21, acknowledging the petition’s claims and ensuring that the court proceedings address all related grievances.