CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has dismissed the election petition filed by BJP leader Brajamohan Pradhan challenging the election of BJD MLA Aswini Kumar Patra from the Jaleswar Assembly constituency in the 2024 elections. Pradhan had lost the election by a narrow margin of 319 votes.
In his petition, Pradhan alleged that Patra had illegally appointed Manas Jena, chairman of Jaleswar panchayat samiti, as his election and counting agent during the polls.
He stated that Election Commission guidelines prohibit persons holding such public offices from functioning as election, polling or counting agents. He contended that despite the alleged restriction, the returning officer accepted Jena’s appointment, thereby vitiating the election process.
Rejecting the contention, the High Court observed that neither the Constitution nor the Representation of the People Act, 1951 imposed any statutory disqualification on Manas Jena from acting as an election or counting agent.
Justice Sashikanta Mishra held that the objection raised by the petitioner was based only on executive instructions contained in the Handbook for Candidates, which do not possess statutory force. He observed that no such evidence or material particulars had been placed on record by the petitioner.
“In absence of any statutory prohibition and further in absence of any pleading or proof of material effect on the election result, the contention advanced cannot be accepted,” Justice Mishra ruled and dismissed the petition as devoid of merit.