Hearing fixed for December 11; petitioner claims misuse of government machinery to influence the election outcome
Shimla — The Himachal Pradesh High Court has issued notices to the state government and the Kangra Central Cooperative (KCC) Bank over allegations that ₹50,000 each was distributed to women’s groups during the by-election in Dehra constituency of Kangra district. The division bench, comprising Chief Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia and Justice Jiyalal Bhardwaj, has directed all respondents to file their replies by the next hearing, scheduled for December 11.
The notice was issued in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by BJP candidate Hoshiar Singh, who lost the Dehra by-election to Congress candidate Kamlesh Thakur — wife of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu — by a margin of around 10,000 votes. The petitioner has alleged that the government misused official machinery to influence voters during the election.
During Thursday’s hearing, the court was informed that two individuals had sent an email to the KCC Bank during the Model Code of Conduct period, alerting it about possible violations. Despite this, the bank’s management allegedly sanctioned ₹50,000 each to 67 women’s groups on July 9 and 10 — even though these groups had not requested any funds.
The petitioner stated that the information regarding these disbursements was obtained through the Right to Information (RTI) Act. He contended that if the details had been available earlier, a complaint would have been lodged with the Election Commission of India.
The PIL demands that criminal action be initiated against the bank officials responsible for releasing the funds during the code of conduct, alleging that such actions amounted to influencing the election process.
The High Court will further examine the matter on December 11 after receiving responses from the government and the KCC Bank.
