Chhattisgarh HC annuls Malkharounda poll

Bilaspur, Aug 1 (UNI) The Chhattisgarh High Court today ruled that a fresh election be conducted for Malkharounda assembly constituency while annulling the nomination papers of BSP MLA Lal Sai Khunte who was the victorious candidate in 2003.

Justice Vijay Kumar Srivastava handed down the ruling while acting on a petition challenging the election of Mr Khunte who defeated his nearest BJP rival Nirmal Sinha by a wafer-thin margin of 896 votes.

Mr Sinha filed the plea stating that a Sakti-based court awarded Mr Khunte two years' imprisonment for a government grants scam and therefore he was ineligible to contest the 2003 poll. Mr Khunte did not mention this matter in his nomination papers.

UNI XC-AC SHB KN2139