Team Herald
PANJIM: The High Court of Bombay at Goa has dismissed the petition filed by Calangute MLA Michael Lobo’s arch rival Joseph Sequeira challenging the BJP leader’s victory in the last assembly election.
The Single Bench of Justice Nutan Sardessai observed that Sequeira failed to submit material facts to establish his allegations of corruption against Lobo.
“On a consideration of all the pleadings duly denied by the applicant (Lobo) and the judgments on the point, the respondent/petitioner (Sequeira) had failed to set out the material facts and to rely on the material documents to bring home the case of the corrupt practice indulged in by the applicant to the core. It was not only the case of defective verification but that were no pleadings on the material facts as required in terms of Section 83 (1)(b) of the Act,” the Bench said in the order to an application filed by Lobo contesting the Election Petition filed by Sequeira in 2017.
The court further observed that Sequeira had also failed to show from the material on record how the result of the assembly election in Calangute was prejudiciously affected due to the commission of the alleged corrupt practice by Lobo.
“The petition as such which does not disclose the cause of action and lacks in material facts and particulars apart from the nonproduction of the material documents cannot be allowed to stand. Therefore in exercise of the powers under Order VII Rule 11 CPC there is every basis to allow the application and dismiss the election petition,” states the order.
Sequeira had contested against Lobo in the 2017 general assembly elections from Calangute constituency but lost.
He had alleged that the electronic voting machine was tampered with to favour the winning candidate.
