Jaipur

The Rajasthan High Court has dismissed an election petition contesting the victory of Independent MLA Ritu Banawat from the Bayana Assembly constituency in Bharatpur district, ruling that the petitioner failed to prove any concealment of assets or other material facts that could have influenced the election outcome or constituted an electoral malpractice.

While upholding Banawat’s election, the court imposed a cost of ₹1 lakh on the legislator for repeatedly evading court summons, observing that her conduct unnecessarily prolonged the proceedings by nearly ten months.

Justice Sudesh Bansal, in an order passed on Monday, directed Banawat to pay the amount to the petitioner within 30 days.

The election petition had been filed by Purushottam Lal, who was also a candidate from the Bayana constituency in the 2023 Rajasthan Assembly elections.

Lal alleged that Banawat had failed to provide complete details of her assets, liabilities, bank accounts and other mandatory disclosures in Form-26 submitted with her nomination papers. According to the petitioner, several sections of the affidavit were left incomplete and important information was allegedly withheld, thereby denying voters their right to make an informed choice.

After reviewing the evidence, the High Court concluded that the allegations were not substantiated. It held that the petitioner could not establish that any alleged omissions had materially affected the election result or amounted to a corrupt practice under election law.

The court further observed that there was no convincing evidence to show that voters had been misled or that the integrity of the electoral process had been compromised because of the alleged deficiencies in the affidavit.

However, the bench expressed displeasure over Banawat’s conduct during the proceedings, noting that she avoided receiving court summons for an extended period, which delayed the adjudication of the case.

The court remarked that litigants cannot be allowed to obstruct or frustrate judicial proceedings, even if their election is ultimately upheld. Such conduct, it said, warrants financial consequences.

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Consequently, while dismissing the election petition, the High Court ordered Banawat to pay ₹1 lakh as costs to the petitioner within one month.