The Madhya Pradesh High Court has cancelled the election of Congress MLA Mukesh Malhotra from the Vijaypur Assembly seat. The court delivered its verdict after hearing a petition filed by former minister and BJP leader Ramniwas Rawat. With this decision, Rawat has been declared the winner of the Vijaypur Assembly by-election.

The case is based on allegations of Mukesh Malhotra submitting a false affidavit during the by-election nomination process. Ramniwas Rawat had approached the court claiming that the Congress leader did not provide correct information in the affidavit submitted during the election.

Rawat, who has been a six-time MLA and a three-time minister, filed a petition against Malhotra after losing the Vijaypur by-election. In the petition, he accused Malhotra of giving incorrect information in his election affidavit. The allegation was that Malhotra had hidden details about criminal cases while filing his nomination papers.

The High Court heard the matter and examined the claims made in the petition. After the hearing, the court accepted Rawat’s arguments regarding the affidavit submitted during the by-election. The court ruled that the election could not be considered valid because of the false affidavit.

The legal dispute over the Vijaypur by-election had been continuing for some time. According to reports, Rawat had earlier also taken the matter to the Supreme Court. In that case, the top court reprimanded Mukesh Malhotra over the issue of submitting a false affidavit in the by-election.

The report said that Rawat had filed the petition accusing the Congress MLA of misleading the public. He had alleged that the affidavit submitted during the by-election contained incorrect details. The petition also demanded legal action against Malhotra for submitting a false affidavit.

According to the report, the affidavit issue was related to six serious criminal cases. It was alleged that the Congress leader had attempted to hide information about these cases while submitting his nomination documents for the election.

The case also went through several stages in court. Mukesh Malhotra had filed an application seeking dismissal of Rawat’s petition. However, the High Court rejected that request and allowed the case to continue.

After the High Court refused to dismiss the petition, Malhotra approached the Supreme Court. But the top court did not provide relief in the matter and also criticised the issue related to the affidavit filed in the by-election.

The Supreme Court bench, while hearing the matter earlier, reprimanded the Congress MLA regarding the affidavit filed during the Vijaypur by-election. The bench had taken a serious view of the issue raised in the petition.

The report said that Ramniwas Rawat had approached the court after he lost the by-election from the Vijaypur Assembly seat in Sheopur district. The defeat had created a difficult situation for Rawat. According to the report, after losing the by-election, he had to resign from the ministerial post he held earlier.

Rawat later decided to challenge the election result in court. In his petition, he argued that the election result should be cancelled because of the false affidavit submitted during the nomination process.

The lawyers representing both sides presented their arguments in court. Senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul and advocate Nipun Saxena argued the case on behalf of Ramniwas Rawat. On the other side, Congress MLA Mukesh Malhotra was represented by advocate Vivek Tankha.

During the hearing, the lawyers supporting Rawat argued before the court that the Congress leader had filed a false affidavit during the by-election. They told the court that the information provided in the nomination papers is false and that important details were hidden.

After considering the arguments and examining the case, the court accepted the petition filed by Rawat. The High Court’s verdict cancelled the election of Mukesh Malhotra and declared Ramniwas Rawat the winner of the Vijaypur Assembly seat.