NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday referred to a larger bench a petition by BJP leader Yogender Chandolia challenging the election of AAP’s Vishesh Ravi from the capital’s Karol Bagh assembly constituency in February 2020. “The matter is referred to a larger bench. I am not inclined to agree with the view of the coordinate bench,” said Justice Subramonium Prasad.
A detailed copy of the judgement is awaited. In his election petition filed in 2020, Chandolia, who was fielded by the BJP against Ravi from Karol Bagh constituency, alleged that, among other things, the AAP MLA’s educational qualification in his nomination affidavit filed for the polls was incorrect.
Chandolia alleged that Ravi’s claim that he passed the class 10 examination via the National Institute of Open Schooling in 2003 was false. He thus prayed that the election result for Karol Bagh seat should be declared null and void. In December 2020, the HC refused to reject the election petition based on Ravi’s claim that it did not disclose a cause of action. It observed the election petition showed there were assertions to demonstrate the AAP MLA “has been taking inconsistent stands concerning his highest educational qualification.”