Jharsuguda: The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition filed by Jharsuguda MLA Tankadhar Tripathy, dealing a setback in the ongoing legal dispute over the constituency’s 2024 Assembly election results.
Tripathy had approached the apex court challenging a decision of the Odisha High Court, which refused to quash an election petition filed against him at a preliminary stage.
The High Court had ruled that the case should proceed. In his plea, Tripathy argued that the election petition filed by former MLA Dipali Das was not maintainable, citing alleged technical defects in the affidavit and other procedural irregularities.
He sought dismissal of the case at the threshold stage. A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court, however, found no substantial grounds to interfere with the High Court’s order and dismissed the special leave petition. The court observed that the plea lacked merit.
Following the ruling, the election petition filed by Dipali will continue to be heard in the High Court. Advocate Abhijnan Jha, appearing for Dipali, had earlier filed a caveat in the Supreme Court to ensure that no ex parte order was passed without hearing her side.
The legal proceedings relate to the Jharsuguda Assembly constituency election, the outcome of which has been under judicial scrutiny since the petition was filed.