Bohra, the general observer, and returning officer Dhaval Jani were made respondents in the case by the High Court, after it found 'glaring violations' of the Election Commission's guidelines in the counting of votes.
Rajasthan-cadre IAS officer Vinita Bohra filed an affidavit on Wednesday before the Gujarat High Court requesting it to drop her name from case proceedings. The matter pertained to the election petition filed by Congress leader Ashwin Rathod questioning the victory of education minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama from Dholka Assembly constituency in the Gujarat Assembly elections of 2017.
Bohra, the general observer, and returning officer Dhaval Jani were made respondents in the case by the High Court, after it found 'glaring violations' of the Election Commission's guidelines in the counting of votes.
Chudasama won the election by a wafer-thin margin of 327 votes after Jani rejected 429 votes received through postal ballots. After the remarks made by the single-judge bench of Justice Paresh Upadhyay, the poll panel had informed the court that it had written to Rajasthan chief secretary to initiate disciplinary action against Bohra for her lapses as a general observer.
Bohra, in her affidavit, said that as general observer, it was mandatory for her to declare the result and issue the winning certificate after complete sheet of every round of vote-counting was prepared by the counting supervisor and checked by the returning officer. She has claimed that the result was declared after she was assured by the returning officer.
She has also clarified that postal ballot counting comes under the domain of the returning officer and her role was only to ensure that it takes place before counting of EVM votes. The bureaucrat submitted that she was not imparted the mandatory two-day in-depth election training by the poll panel, but performed her duties without any error.
The counsel for Chudasama and Jani sought time to file their replies, and the hearing was adjourned till June 25.
The Petition
- Case pertains to petition questioning Bhupendrasinh Chudasama’s victory in 2017 Assembly polls
- Vinita Bohra served as the general observer, and was made respondent by the Gujarat High Court
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