Mamata Banerjee, who contested from Nandigram, had lost to BJP's Suvendu Adhikari (File)
A notice will be sent to the Election Commission regarding the assembly election in Bengal's Nandigram, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lost to the BJP's Suvendu Adhikai in May while her party had a huge victory elsewhere in the state. The Chief Minister had lost by less than 2,000 votes to her aide-turned-arch rival after an excruciatingly slow counting that saw multiple twists and turns.The BJP's Suvendu Adhikari has, meanwhile, appealed to the Supreme Court, seeking the case be moved out of Bengal.
After the Election Commission rejected Ms Banerjee's appeal for a recount of the votes, she had challenged the results in court, and sought that Suvendu Adhikari's election be declared void.
Justice Shampa Sarkar, who was hearing the case online, asked that a notice be served to the Commission, and the Returning Officer. She also asked that all the papers and Electronic Voting Machines related to poll be preserved.
Ms Banerjee -- who attended the hearing online -- has alleged corrupt practices by Mr Adhikari including bribery, promotion of hatred and enmity, seeking votes on the basis of religion and booth capture.
There were also discrepancies in the counting procedure and discrepancies and non-compliance in Form 17C, which is the account of votes recorded and the result of counting, she said in her petition.
The next hearing in the case will be held on August 12.
Justice Sarkar had taken over after Justice Kaushik Chanda exited the case, accusing Ms Banerjee of a "planned move to malign a judge" and violating her constitutional duty. He also fined her Rs 5 lakh.
Ms Banerjee had asked the judge to quit the case over "conflict of interest". In a letter to the Chief Justice, she said the judge had links with the BJP's legal cell before his elevation and that she had concerns about bias.