Drama over Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis poll affidavit continued with an error in the Returning Officers (RO) order on Sunday, putting the name of the notary incorrectly, which was rectified later. The RO had held the CM’s affidavit as valid after rejecting three objections by three individuals, including Opposition contestant Ashish Deshmukh of Congress, on Saturday. One of the objections pertained to expiry of the validity of the licence of notary V P Sontakke as the seal of the notary in Fadnavis affidavit showed. Fadnavis’s election agent Sandip Joshi had submitted to the RO, Shekhar Ghadge, that the licence had been extended for five years beyond the date that had appeared in the seal on the affidavit. He had also produced the fresh renewal certificate in the name of the notary. In the order, however, the RO mentioned the notary name as Purushottam Narendra Sontakke. Purushottam is actually the name of notary V P Sontakke’s father. So, the RO later issued a corrigendum saying that Purushottam Narendra Sontakke be read as Vivek Purushottam Sontakke. In this corrigendum too, the RO left another error, this time in the name of Vivek Sontakke’s father. The correct name should have been Purushottam Moreshwar Sontakke. To correct this error, the RO issued another corrigendum saying Purushottam Narendra Sontakke should be read as Purushottam Moreshwar Sontakke. Click here for more election stories However, one of the complainants, Satish Ukey, on Saturday took objection to the issuance of corrections, saying that they were issued on October 6, but were shown backdated as on October 5. Ukey has lodged a complaint with Sadar police station in this regard and has also sent a complaint to the Election Commission of India and Chief Election Officer of the state, demanding the registration of an FIR against the RO, under the Representation of People’s Act and Prevention of Corruption Act 1951.
