Cuttack: In a twist to the ongoing cases over Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s election expenses, Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra of Orissa High Court Wednesday recused himself from hearing petitions.
Though Justice Mishra has not clarified the reason behind his withdrawal from the hearing, he said he has handed over the case to the Chief Justice who would take a call on the next hearing of the case.
Senior advocate Pitambar Acharya said the Chief Justice would give necessary directions regarding the division bench which would take up the matter and the hearing would continue accordingly.
Acharya was pleading for Debananda Mohapatra, the defeated candidate of Bharatiya Janata Party from Hinjili Assembly constituency in 2014. Acharya pleaded for the hearing of the case in the HC.
He informed the HC that Election Commission of India (ECI) should have taken action against irregularities, if any, in the election expenses as per the Section 10 of the Representation of People Act. Acharya reiterated that the ECI enjoys the authority to initiate legal action over the issue.
The HC was informed that Right to Information (RTI) activist Subash Mohapatra had filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking transfer of the case to Delhi High Court. The RTI activist had cited that there were chances that the hearing would be influenced.
The RTI activist had moved the HC alleging irregularities in poll expenses of BJD candidate Naveen Patnaik for Hinjili Assembly seat. Subsequently, defeated candidate of BJP Debananda had moved the HC over the issue.
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