Court dismisses plea to quash Raigarh mayor's election

A local court has turned down a plea seeking to quash the 2009 election of Raigarh Municipal Corporation (RMC) Mayor Mahendra Chauhatha.

Raigarh District and Sessions Judge Anil Kumar Shukla on Tuesday rejected the petition filed by an independent candidate in the RMC election, Sevan Ram Chauhan, citing it as baseless and uncoordinated, public prosecutor Panchanan Gupta said. On December 23, 2009, BJP candidate Chauhatha was elected Mayor of RMC. In January 2010, Chauhan had filed a petition against Chauhatha, he said.

Chauhan in his petition alleged that Chauhatha had furnished wrong information regarding his caste and assets in his affidavit.

The petitioner had sought to scrap the election of RMC under relevant sections of Chhattisgarh Municipal Corporation Act 1956, Gupta said.