The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice on a petition alleging that elections for the New Delhi Bar Association (NBDA) at the Patiala House Courts were not held in a free and fair manner. .Justice Mini Pushkarna asked the Election Commissioner, the Observer and the Returning Officer to respond to the plea and ordered that the results of the March 21 polls would be subject to the outcome of the case.The Court further directed the Returning Officer to file the video recording of the voting at the polling booth as well as the verification of the voters. .This was after the petitioners before the Court sought the quashing of the election results. "Some supporters of certain candidates tried to enter the polling stations without having genuine or valid proximity cards. They started creating nuisance and ruckus was created at the polling station for over 1.5 hours," Senior Advocate KK Sharma and Advocate Vivek Gupta, representing the petitioners said.He added that during this period, the proximity scan process did not work and votes were cast by unverified members. "There is discrepancy in the numbers of votes cast and scanned," the senior counsel said..The Court was also told that only 1,850 cards were scanned but the total votes cast were 2,034. However, the counsel representing the Returning Officer said there was a proper procedure in place before voters cast their vote and that the verification of the proximity card was conducted."In case there was a glitch in the software, the physical verification ensured that only genuine voters cast their vote. Physical declaration forms that were verified at the time of voting have been kept in sealed cover," he added..On a related note, petitions have also been filed before the High Court alleging that malpractices took place during the Saket Court bar association elections and the Rouse Avenue Court bar association elections..Petitions filed in Delhi High Court over Saket, Rouse Avenue and Patiala House bar elections.[Read Live Coverage]
