Election Commission not to defend its notice against Ex-Maha CM Ashok Chavan: High Court told

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission today told the Delhi High Court that being a quasi-judicial body, it will not defend its order holding ex-Maharashtra Chief Minister AshokChavan guilty of failing to give his correct expenses in the 2009 assembly polls.

Chavan, an MP from Nanded parliamentary seat, has been given a 20-day deadline on July 13 to respond to a consequent show cause notice of the poll panel which has held that he has "failed to lodge his account of election expenses in the manner required by the (Representation of the People) Act and rules."

The finding of the commission, which formed the basis of the show cause notice, could pave the way for his disqualification as an MP and bar him from contesting polls for three years

"We will not defend our order," the counsel appearing for the poll panel submitted before a bench of Justice Suresh Kait, who thereafter deleted the Election Commission (EC) from the list of parties in the case and posted it for hearing on July 28.

EC took the stand that there is an order of the high court holding that quasi-judicial bodies, like the poll panel, not be made a party in cases where decisions of such entities are challenged.

Chavan has moved the court against the EC's July 13 order, saying the panel has not followed the procedure laid out in the Representation of People Act prior to giving its findings.

He has also said that the expenses that he had allegedly not declared pertained to some advertisements that were released in October 2009 regarding a meeting that was to be held between the members of United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal appeared for Chavan and argued that the ex-CM did not know who had issued the advertisements.

Chavan had won the 2009 assembly election from Bhokar in Maharashtra's Nanded Lok Sabha constituency. He won the recent Lok Sabha polls from Nanded.