Supreme Court restores election petition against BJP MP in Assam

The Supreme Court of India has restored an election petition challenging the 2024 Lok Sabha election victory of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Kripanath Mallah from the Karimganj Parliamentary Constituency in Assam.

The appeal was filed by Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Choudhury, an Indian National Congress member and advocate, who lost the election to Mallah by a margin of 18,360 votes. The Supreme Court set aside a previous Gauhati High Court judgment that had dismissed the petition at the threshold without a full trial.

In its ruling, a bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice K Vinod Chandran addressed technical objections regarding the attestation of the petition and the Form-25 affidavit. The court held that different rubber stamps used to certify the documents conveyed the same meaning and that the signature of the petitioner on every page was sufficient to satisfy legal requirements. The matter has been sent back to the Gauhati High Court for further consideration.