July 24, 2024 – The Himachal Pradesh High Court has issued a notice to Kangana Ranaut, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha member from Mandi, regarding a petition challenging her recent election victory. The notice was issued on Wednesday in response to a petition filed by Layak Ram Negi, a resident of Kinnaur, who claims that his nomination papers were wrongfully rejected.

Justice Jyotsna Rewal directed Ms. Ranaut to respond to the notice by August 21. The petition argues that Mr. Negi's nomination was unjustly dismissed by the returning officer, who is also the Deputy Commissioner of Mandi. 

Ms. Ranaut secured the Mandi seat in the recent Lok Sabha elections, defeating her Congress rival, Vikramaditya Singh, by a margin of 74,755 votes. Ranaut garnered 5,37,002 votes, while Singh received 4,62,267 votes. In his petition, Mr. Negi, a former employee of the forest department, contends that his nomination papers were rejected despite submitting a "no dues certificate" from his previous department. He was instructed to provide additional "no dues certificates" from the electricity, water, and telephone departments within a day. Although he complied, the returning officer allegedly refused to accept the documents and rejected his nomination.

Mr. Negi maintains that he stood a strong chance of winning the election if his nomination had been accepted and is seeking to have the election results overturned. The court's notice to Ms. Ranaut marks the beginning of legal proceedings that could potentially impact the validity of her election win.

As the legal battle unfolds, all eyes will be on the Himachal Pradesh High Court for further developments in this case.