NCP corporator challenges his disqualification before Bombay High Court

Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP) corporator from Kurla, Abdul Rashid Malik, popularly known as Kaptan Malik, has challenged his disqualification before the Bombay High Court on Tuesday.

Malik was disqualified by a lower court on December 10 for concealing his original name in the ballot paper.

Pratap Singh, Malik’s advocate, said that they have filed the petition and would be mentioning the same before the high court on Wednesday.

Singh said that the additional judge of the small causes court did not have the power to set aside Malik’s election.

“The order is illegal and void and hence we have sought that the same be quashed,” said Singh.

The small causes court also declared the candidate who polled the second highest number of votes – Khammanchand Bherulal Jain of Bharatiya Janata Party) – as elected.

“At the most, the judge could have declared that Malik was ineligible. But the judge does not have the power to declare the second candidate as elected,” said Singh.

Stating that the order is without application of mind, Malik has sought that the same be quashed.

The order was passed by small causes on a suit filed by Jain, who had lost to Malik by 170 votes.

Jain had challenged Malik’s election as he had used his alias in the paper instead of his voter list name in 2007.