SC stays Gujarat HC order nullifying Chudasama’s 2017 election

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Gujarat High Court order nullifying state minister and BJP leader Bhupendrasinh Chudasama's 2017 election on the ground of malpractice and manipulation.

A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and B R Gavai issued notice on Chudasama's plea and sought response from his rival Congress candidate Ashwin Rathod, among others.

Chudasama is currently the minister for law and justice, legislative and parliamentary affairs, education and some other departments in the Vijay Rupani government.

The High Court had on May 12, nullified 2017 election of Chudasama on the ground of malpractice and manipulation and have also refused to stay of the operation of the order till the disposal of his appeal.

The high court had held that Returning Officer "illegally rejected" 429 postal ballots during the counting of votes, while the victory margin was only 327.

Congress candidate Ashwin Rathod had challenged his BJP rival's victory from Dholka constituency by a margin of mere 327 votes in the 2017 Gujarat Assembly polls.