Bhubaneswar: In a setback to BJP MLA Tankadhar Tripathy, the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the Orissa High Court’s order declining to dismiss the election petition of former legislator Dipali Das challenging his victory from Jharsuguda Assembly constituency.
With rejection of Tripathy’s plea by the Supreme Court, the main case relating to the poll dispute will now continue to be heard before the Orissa High Court.
Tripathy, MLA from Jharsuguda, had approached the Apex Court after the High Court refused to dismiss the election petition at the preliminary stage. He had argued that the petition filed by Dipali Das lacked material facts, disclosed no valid cause of action and did not raise any triable issues warranting judicial examination. Senior advocate G.K. Agarwal had appeared on his behalf.
However, his application for dismissal of Dipali’s petition was rejected by the Orissa High Court. Justice Sashikanta Mishra had observed that the pleadings made by Dipali Das disclosed material facts and raised issues that required proper adjudication during trial.
Dipali Das, who contested the 2024 Assembly election from Jharsuguda on a BJD ticket, has sought declaration of Tripathy’s election as null and void. She alleged suppression of information in the nomination affidavit filed by Tripathy and also raised questions over the counting process during the election.
The petition also alleged irregularities in vote counting. It was claimed that votes from 12 control units across eight polling stations, amounting to 6,313 votes, were allegedly not counted during the counting process.
It may be recalled that Dipali Das had lost the election to Tankadhar Tripathy by a margin of 1,333 votes in the 2024 Assembly election.
