A vacation bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justices S. C. Sharma and P. B. Varale has responded to a petition by RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) for re-polling at Bihar’s Munger constituency. The apex court has directed the petitioners to approach the high court for their grievance. RJD’s Kumari Anita had filed the petition after several complaints to district officials bore no fruit.
The bench remarked, “Why don’t you go to the high court? The high courts are not closed in this country.” The Supreme Court declined to hear a petition filed by a RJD candidate seeking re-polling at more than 40 booths in the Munger Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar. The justices told the candidate to take her case to the Patna High Court instead.
The petition had sought redressal on allegations of booth capturing and election rigging in the Munger constituency of Bihar. The petitioner claims that members of the ruling Janata Dal (United) party, with the assistance of government officials took part in these activities. As per a report in the Live Law, the petition asked for polling in Lakhisarai, Mokana, and Suryagarha in Munger to be conducted again.
According to the petitioner, many such complaints were lodged with various authorities, including the Election Commission of India’s observers and the District Election Officer, Avnish Kumar Singh, but these efforts received no response. Furthermore, the petitioner alleges that she was physically assaulted by officials and JDU supporters when she attempted to protest the alleged booth capturing. The petition also asked for Avnish Kumar Singh to be removed from his duties. Kumari has also claimed earlier that people from backward castes were not allowed to vote, as per a report in Bar and Bench.
JDU is part of the ruling alliance in the state. Bihar’s Munger saw 55 % voting. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Munger had seen a similar allegation of tampering with votes. The then Bihar government had dismissed a zonal magistrate on charges of bogus voting and booth capturing in Lakhisarai.
In the 2024, 18th Lok Sabha elections accusations of bogus voting and poll booth capturing have come from Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, and Tripura. Reports of Muslims being prevented from voting has also come from Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.
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