On July 24, the Himachal Pradesh High Court took a significant step by issuing a notice to Kangana Ranaut, an actress and Member of Parliament for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This notice was in response to a petition filed by Laik Ram Negi, a resident of Kinnaur, who challenged Ranaut’s election victory from the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency.
Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua presided over the matter and directed Ranaut to respond to the petition by August 21. The legal action comes after Ranaut emerged victorious in the recent elections, securing the Mandi seat with a margin of 74,755 votes, defeating her opponent, Congress candidate Vikramaditya Singh. Ranaut garnered 537,002 votes, while Singh received 462,267 votes.Laik Ram Negi, a former employee of the forest department, filed the petition, asserting that his nomination papers were unfairly rejected by the returning officer, who is the Deputy Commissioner of Mandi. Negi claims that this rejection significantly hindered his ability to effectively contest the election.
Negi’s grievance revolves around the handling of his nomination process. He submitted his papers, including a “no dues certificate” from his previous employer, the forest department, on May 14, 2024. However, the returning officer allegedly demanded additional “no dues certificates” from the electricity, water, and telephone departments. Negi was given until May 15 to provide these documents, which he claims he did. Despite his compliance, the returning officer refused to accept the certificates and subsequently rejected his nomination.
Negi argues that this rejection was unjustifiable and directly impacted the outcome of the election. He believes that if his nomination had been accepted, he would have had a strong chance of winning. As a result, he is seeking the intervention of the court to overturn Ranaut’s election victory. The High Court has also included the returning officer as a respondent in the case, recognizing the crucial role played by the nomination process in this dispute.
