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The election petition filed by a voter from his constituency alleges that Pathak committed corrupt practices as defined under the Representation of the People Act and seeks a declaration that his election to the constituency be declared null and void.
Seeking a reply to the petition within six weeks, Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani directed the Election Commission of India and the Returning Officer to preserve the nomination papers and other documents pertaining to the byelection held on June 23, during the pendency of the election petition. The court has listed the matter for hearing on November 21.
In the petition filed by one Rajan Tewari, it has been alleged that Pathak in his FORM 26, affidavit required to be submitted by candidates with the nomination papers under Rule 4A of the Conduct of Election Rules 1961, failed to disclose the fact that an FIR dated November 7, 2020, stood registered against him at North Avenue police station under IPC sections 420, 468, 469 and 471 as well as Section 66C of the Information Technology Act. The FIR had been filed on the complaint of a BJP leader.
It was also submitted that at the time of the election, Pathak held an ‘office of profit’ as a member of the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights. Advocate Apoorv Kurup, representing Tewari, argued that the same would invite disqualification under Article 191 of the Constitution and is a ground for declaring Pathak’s election void under section 100 of the RP Act.
Pathak had defeated BJP candidate Rajesh Bhatia by a margin of more than 11,000 votes in the bypoll. The seat had fallen vacant after AAP’s former MLA Raghav Chadha was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab.
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