The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Wednesday issued a notice regarding a petition challenging the election of BJP MP Kangana Ranaut from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat. The court has ordered Ranaut to respond to the petition by August 21. The court of Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua issued the notice on the petition of Kinnaur resident Layak Ram Negi, who had filled his nomination papers as an independent candidate for the Mandi seat but his nomination was rejected. In his petition, Negi requested to nullify the Lok Sabha election for the Mandi seat, alleging that his nomination papers were improperly rejected. He also named Mandi Returning Officer (RO) as a respondent in the case. He said he submitted his nomination papers for the Mandi Lok Sabha election on May 14, 2024. He was told that he would also need to provide no-due certificates for electricity, water, and telephone bills from the relevant departments and was given time till the next day to furnish all documents. He said he submitted all documents to the RO on May 15, however, he refused to accept those. Negi said that the RO told him that the absence of these certificates with the nomination papers was a significant error that could not be rectified, resulting in rejection of his nomination.
