BJD MLA Dhruba Sahoo Seeks Time From Orissa HC To Respond In False Affidavit Case

Cuttack: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Dhruba Charan Sahoo on Tuesday sought time from the Orissa High court to respond to a notice on a petition challenging his election from Rajnagar Assembly constituency in the recent polls.

The High Court fixed October 8 as the next date of hearing after Sahoo sought six-week time to reply to the notice issued to him by the court on the petition filed Lalit Behera of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who lost the elections in Rajnagar.

The High Court had issued notice to Sahoo and seven other candidates who had contested from the seat after admitting the election petition filed by Lalit Behera, who lost to Sahoo by a margin of 1,817 votes. Sahoo had also won the Rajnagar seat for BJD in 2019.

The HC had issued the notices to the respondents to file written statement and fixed September 3 for settlement of issues.

The petition has sought for declaring the election of Sahoo as void on the ground of improper acceptance of his nomination papers by the returning officer in spite of noncompliance with the statutory provisions.

The petition sought quashing of Sahoo’s election on the ground of non-furnishing of original affidavits in each set of nomination papers, submission of incomplete and improper affidavits at the time of presentation of nomination papers, non-disclosure of correct position of all the criminal cases pending against him and making false declarations concerning the income tax returns among others.