Voting dates for Karnataka assembly election announced
New Delhi (PTI): Assembly elections in Karnataka will be held in a single phase on May 10 and the votes counted on May 13, the Election Commission announced on Wednesday, setting the stage for a key BJP versus Congress electoral fight ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha showdown.
The Janata Dal (Secular) is the third major party in the state, which has a 224-member assembly. The BJP currently has 119 seats, followed by the Congress with 75. The JD (S) has 28 MLAs, while two seats are vacant.
Addressing a press conference here, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said the notification for the elections will be issued on April 13 and the last date for filing nomination papers will be April 20.
Kumar said the nomination papers will be scrutinised on April 21 and the last date for withdrawal of nominations is April 24.
He said the elections have been scheduled on a Wednesday, and not on a Monday or Friday, to encourage greater participation of voters.
"People can take a day off and have a long weekend. But by holding the poll on Wednesday, the possibility has been reduced," he said, adding that the move is part of the EC's effort to ensure greater participation and curb voters' apathy in going to the polling stations.
The ruling BJP and the Congress have already launched spirited campaigns for the elections.
The Model Code of Conduct kicked in on Wednesday with the announcement of the election. But strict vigil was ensured even earlier on the Commission's directions during review meetings with enforcement agencies, he said, adding that more than Rs 80 crore has been seized so far.
Seeking to ensure inclusion and participation in the assembly polls, 100 per cent enrolment of eligible 'Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups' (PVTGs) in Karnataka is being ensured, the CEC said.
Forty 'Ethnic polling stations' will be set up for PVTGs. Special emphasis is being laid on the participation of the third gender in the election process, he said.
He said some people do not wish to enrol as third gender. But the EC is willing go the extra mile to register them in the gender they want keeping in mind their sensitivities.
Referring to 'urban apathy', Kumar said in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, nine of the top 20 low voter turnout constituencies were urban. This trend was also noticed in recently held Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections held in 2022, the CEC noted.
Focussed interventions are being made to create awareness in schools and colleges and voter awareness forums in organisations and RWAs, he said.
For the assembly elections, 58,282 polling stations will be set up in the state. The average voter per polling station is pegged at 883. Fifty per cent of the polling stations have webcasting facility.
A total of 1,320 polling stations will be managed by women officials.
Among the over 5,24 crore voters, over 5.60 lakh have been identified as persons with disability, the poll panel said.
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BharatPe fraud case: Delhi HC quashes lookout circular against Ashneer Grover, wife
New Delhi, Nov 12: The Delhi High Court has ordered cancellation of a lookout circular (LOC) issued against Ashneer Grover, the former MD of payment app BharatPe, and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover, noting that the FIR lodged against them over allegations of cheating and forgery has already been quashed.
Justice Sanjeev Narula passed the order on Monday after the court was informed that another bench of the high court quashed the FIR on the same day.
The FIR was quashed by Justice Chandra Dhari Singh after considering a plea moved by the Grovers stating that they have arrived at a settlement with the fintech company.
In his order, Justice Narula said, "Although the copy of the order (quashing the FIR) is not available as of now, the aforenoted fact is not disputed by the counsel for the parties.
"In light of the fact that the underlying FIR has been quashed, the LOC issued by respondent No. 3 (Bureau of Immigration), in the opinion of the court, will not survive."
The LOC was issued by the Bureau of Immigration at the instance of Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in view of the investigation against the Grovers in the cheating and forgery FIR.
The court was hearing a plea moved by Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover seeking quashing of the LOC issued against them in connection with the investigation into the cheating and forgery case.
"Accordingly, the present petitions are disposed of with a direction to the respondents to cancel the LOC against the petitioners in their records," the court noted.
Earlier, the Grovers claimed that they were informed about the LOC for the first time when they were detained at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here on November 16, 2023, while they were scheduled to travel to the US.
After being detained, they were informed that the LOC was operational from November 6, 2023.
In May last year, the EOW filed an FIR against Grover, his wife Madhuri, and others under eight sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 467 and 468 (forgery), and 471 (using forged documents as genuine) for an alleged Rs 81 crore fraud after a complaint was lodged by BhartPe, the fintech unicorn.
In its complaint, BharatPe alleged that Grover and his family caused damages to the tune of Rs 81.3 crore through illegitimate payments to bogus human resource consultants, inflated and undue payments through pass-through vendors connected to the accused, sham transactions in input tax credit and payment of penalty to GST authorities, illegal payment to travel agencies, forged invoices by Madhuri, and destruction of evidence.
Madhuri was the head of controls at BharatPe before she was fired in 2022 after a forensic audit revealed several irregularities.
Subsequently, Grover resigned as the chief executive officer of the fintech firm in March 2022.
