SC stays High Court order allowing Congress candidate to contest Uttarakhand civic polls

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed a Uttarakhand High Court order that had allowed Congress candidate Yamini Rohilla to contest the civic body elections in the state.

A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Prasanna B Varale ordered the stay and issued a notice returnable in four weeks. The order did not mention the next hearing date.

However, the Supreme Court website states that the next likely date for the hearing in the case is January 25.

This will, in effect, bar the Congress candidate from contesting the polls scheduled on January 23.

Rohilla had filed her nomination papers for the post of the chairperson of the Herbertpur Nagar Palika in Dehradun district, Garhwal Post reported. However, her nomination was rejected by the returning officer, who claimed that she had allegedly submitted an improper caste certificate.

The Congress leader challenged the rejection in the High Court.

On January 7, a single-judge bench rejected her appeal, which barred her from contesting the elections, Garhwal Post reported.

Following this, Rohilla filed another petition against the order before a division bench of the High Court. On January 10, the division bench stayed the order issued by the single-judge bench and allowed Rohilla to contest the election, Garhwal Post reported.

The returning officer then filed a petition before the Supreme Court.

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