HC reserves order on speaker’s membership

Ranchi: The Jharkhand high court on Thursday reserved its order in an election petition filed to challenge the membership of Jharkhand assembly speaker and JMM leader Rabindra Nath Mahto.
Independent candidate Santosh Hembrom filed the election petition before the high court in 2020, seeking cancellation of Nala legislator Mahto’s membership from the assembly.
Mahto has been wrongly elected to the assembly as he violated the terms of the model code of conduct in the 2019 assembly polls, Hembrom further claimed .
Hembrom, who contested the 2019 assembly polls from the Nala constituency against Mahto, further alleged that Mahto had made derogatory and defamatory statements against him. The speaker had also published pamphlets containing unwanted remarks against him, hembrom added.
The matter was taken up before the returning officer of the election but no action was taken against Mahto.
Earlier in the case, Hembrom produced three witnesses to substantiate his allegations against Mahto. Refuting the allegations, Mahto produced 12 witnesses to support his contentions and opposed the foul play initiated by Hembrom to oust his membership from the assembly.