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Bengal

Division Bench upholds EC order rejecting nomination

Kolkata: A Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court on Friday quashed the single bench's order which had set aside the Election Commission's (EC) decision rejecting the nomination of Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Ujjwal Kumar from the Joypur constituency in Purulia district for the Assembly polls. Kumar will not be able to contest the polls now.

The Division Bench — headed by Chief Justice T B Radhakrishnan — allowed an appeal moved by the Election Commission of India (ECI) challenging the single bench's order pronounced by Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya.

Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, who appeared for the ECI on Friday, contended that the High Court's jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution (writ jurisdiction) is barred in election cases, once the dates have been announced. "The candidate has to seek redressal from the Commission itself," he maintained. Kumar has submitted his nomination on Tuesday but the Returning Officer rejected the same due to some defects and asked him to submit the same afresh with rectifications on Wednesday. He followed the RO's instructions and submitted the nomination again on Wednesday. Later, the Commission declared on its website that Kumar's nomination had been turned down due to some error. The nomination of Independent candidates

from Joypur and Baghmundi Nripen Mahato and Bibhuti Bhusan Mahoto, which were rejected by the Commission, was also upheld by the Division Bench.

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