Supreme Court Clears Way for Hearing on Haryana MLA's Election Challenge
The Supreme Court of India, in a significant development on Wednesday, dismissed the plea filed by Haryana BJP MLA Devender Chattar Bhuj Attri. This decision effectively paves the way for the Punjab and Haryana High Court to proceed with hearing a petition challenging Attri's election victory from the Uchana constituency in the October 2024 assembly elections.
Background of the Election Dispute
The petition against Attri was filed by former Hisar MP and Congress functionary Brijendra Singh, a bureaucrat-turned-politician who lost to Attri by a razor-thin margin of just 32 votes. Initially, Brijendra's election petition contested Attri's win on multiple grounds, but he later amended his plea to focus solely on the recounting of postal ballots.
In his amended submission, Brijendra highlighted that out of 1,377 postal votes received, 1,158 were counted as valid, with him polling 636. However, 215 postal ballots were declared invalid by the returning officer. Brijendra argued that if the issue of improper rejection of these 215 votes was addressed, he would be satisfied, and thus dropped his other claims.
High Court's Ruling and Subsequent Appeals
The Punjab and Haryana High Court, in its order dated September 18, 2025, permitted Brijendra's amended plea. Attri challenged this decision, citing technical and procedural grounds, but the High Court dismissed his objection in the same ruling. The court noted that the amendment involved the deletion of prayers, not the addition of new ones, and thus caused no prejudice to Attri as the returned candidate.
Furthermore, the High Court observed that Attri actually benefited from the amendment, as it provided him an opportunity to file a written statement and reduced the overall grounds of challenge against him.
Supreme Court's Final Verdict
Aggrieved by the High Court's decision, Attri moved a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court, which initially stayed the High Court order. However, on Wednesday, the apex court dismissed Attri's petition, allowing the High Court to proceed with the hearing on the amended election petition.
This ruling marks a crucial step in the legal battle over the closely contested Uchana assembly seat, with the focus now shifting to the recounting of postal ballots as the primary issue in the election dispute.
