SC order dismissal of Deshmukh's poll plea

SC order dismissal of Deshmukh's poll plea
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

NEW DELHI, DEC 6: The Supreme Court has directed the Bombay High Court to dismiss the election petition filed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh against Shivajirao Patil Kawekar, who had defeated him in Latur in the 1995 Assembly elections.

A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice A S Anand, Justice S Rajendra Babu and Justice R C Lahoti allowed the appeal filed by Kawekar against the high court order allowing the election petition filed by Deshmukh alleging corrupt practices committed by his rival during the elections.

"A careful appraisal of the evidence shows that Deshmukh has failed to establish the charge of corrupt practice against Kawekar. The (high court) judgement has proceeded more on "assumptions" and "surmises" than on any established fact," Justice Lahoti said writing the judgement for the bench.

He ordered that `the election petition filed by Deshmukh is directed to be dismissed with costs throughout. The costs incurred in this court are quantified at Rs10,000."

Deshmukh as Congress candidate had secured 79,077 votes against 1,12,901 votes polled by Kawekar as Janata Dal candidate.

Deshmukh in his election petition had alleged that his rival had got published articles in local newspapers accusing him of being against certain castes.