J&K High Court on Tuesday dismissed pleas challenging election of National Conference general secretary Ali Muhammad Sagar and Congress leader Asgar Ali Karbalai to Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly in 2014.
In his plea the then Peoples Democratic Party candidate forKhanyar assembly constituency, Khurshid Aalam had challenged 2014 election ofSagar on the ground that he allegedly resorted to bogus voting.
In a separate petition, the PDP candidate from Kargil,Anayat Ali had challenged Congress candidate Karbalia’s election on the groundthat he was holding office of profit at the time of filing his nomination forthe Assembly election.
Hearing the case through video conferencing, a bench ofJustice Sindhu Sharma dismissed Aalam’s petition after Sagar’s counsel said thepetition had become “infructuous” with changing circumstances – abrogation ofArticle 370 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state of J&K into Unionterritories of J&K and Ladakh.
The petition, the Courtsaid, had been rendered infructuous as J&K Assembly has been dissolved.Dismissing Ali’s petition as “infructuous” the Court held that with thedissolution of J&K Assembly the relief claimed by the petitioner could notbe granted.
If it is assumed that the issue of office of the profit wasdecided either way, the Curt said, it would not help the petitioner. “So thereis no need to decide the issue,” the Court said.