The Hindu : New Delhi News : Plea challenging appointment of CEC withdrawn

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 14, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Plea challenging appointment of CEC withdrawn

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: : The Supreme Court lawyer, who this past Wednesday challenged the appointment of B.B. Tandon, Election Commissioner, as Chief Election Commissioner, in the Delhi High Court withdrew the plea on Friday.

The petitioner, Ravi Mohan, withdrew the pleas for quashing of the Union Government decision to appoint Mr. Tandon as Chief Commissioner as well as restraining the Government from administering oath to Mr. Tandon.

The petitioner informed the Court about the withdrawal of the two pleas about two hours after Justice Geeta Mittal asked him to file an affidavit mentioning the source of the reported letter of the senior IAS officer L.V. Saptharishi on the basis of which the petitioner had moved the Court.

Bihar election

In his May 6 letter reportedly written to the Union Law Minister, H.R. Bhardwaj, Mr. Saptharishi had accused Mr. Tandon of countermanding the Chhapra Lok Sabha election in Bihar in the last Parliamentary elections under the influence of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Later at a Press conference, Mr. Saptharishi had accused N. Gopalasawmy, one of the Election Commissioners, and Mr. Tandon of making casteist remarks against the Yadav community.

When counsel for the petitioner submitted that the letter in which the allegations were made against Mr. Tandon was a public document as the same was distributed by Mr. Sapatharishi to reporters at a Press conference here, Justice Geeta Mittal asked him to file an affidavit to this effect.

Affidavit

Instead of filing the affidavit, the petitioner came back to the Court at the fag end of the pre-lunch sitting and informed Ms. Justice Mittal of the withdrawal of the prayers.

Ms. Justice Mittal gave him four weeks time to amend the petition and file a fresh one. She fixed August 24 as the date for consideration of the petition sans the two prayers.

Another petition in the matter filed by the All-India Yadav Mahasbha seeking an inquiry by an impartial agency into alleged casteist remarks made, according to the Press statement of Mr. Sapatharishi, by Mr. Gopalasawmy and Mr. Tandon, against the Yadav community will come up for hearing on May 17.

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