SC upholds EC’s decision to scrap candidacy of Raju Gurung

KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday upheld the decision of the Election Commission (EC) to scrap the candidacy of the CPN (Unified Socialist) candidate from Rupandehi Constituency-2 Raju Gurung.

Gurung, a common candidate of the ruling coalition, had filed a writ petition at the apex court after the poll body scrapped his candidacy for the election to the House of Representatives, arguing that he had been charged with banking fraud.

A single bench of justice Bishwambhar Shrestha on October 16 had ordered the EC not to implement its decision to scrap Gurung’s candidacy by issuing a short-term order. Following the order, the court had ordered both sides to appear before the court for discussion.

After hearing from both sides on Friday, a division bench of Justices Ishwor Prasad Khatiwada and Kumar Regmi rejected Gurung’s demand saying that his candidacy was against the law. The court also scrapped the short-term order that was issued on October 16.

Following the decision of the court, the candidacy of Raju Gurung has been scraped. CPN-UML vice chairman Bishnu Poudel is also the candidate of the same constituency.