AAP’s petition in Tis Hazari Court against Gautam Gambhir comes a couple of days after the last date for scrutiny of nomination papers. On Friday, the district election officer had found Gambhir eligible to contest elections. In this scenario, when the final list of candidates has been published, officials said the matter was out of the hands of the Election Commission. During scrutiny of nomination papers, anyone can point out any inconsistency in declarations made by a prospective candidate. AAP had raised issue with the alleged inconsistencies in dates in Gambhir’s nomination paperwork. This, however, was set aside by the district election officer for being a mere “technicality”, and his name was cleared. According to officials, once a candidate’s nomination has been declared fit, only the court can bar him/her from contesting elections. “There is no provision to bar him now. The party will have to challenge this in court. In case Gambhir is elected, the rules of disqualification as specified in sections 8, 9 and 10 of the Representation of People Act 1951 will apply,” an election officer said. Election officials in Delhi also confirmed that they had not received any complaint from AAP against Gambhir. Also read | Atishi: BJP parachuted celebrity… we weren’t planning anything against Gambhir Experts added that it was important to see if Gambhir had, at the time of applying for a new voter registration, specified that he was enrolled in a different constituency. “If he had, it was EC’s responsibility to remove his name,” said a senior election official.
