West Bengal Chief minister Mamata Banerjee recently moved the Calcutta high court to challenging her Nandigram poll defeat by a margin of 1,956 votes to BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari.
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The Election Commission’s role ends with the declaration of results, that is once the Returning Officer has signed the final result sheet (Form 20).
After that, an election petition is the only legal remedy available to a voter or a candidate who believes there has been malpractice in an election.
Such a person can challenge the result through an election petition submitted to the High Court of the state in which the constituency is located.
Such a petition has to be filed within 45 days from the date of the poll results; nothing is entertained by courts after that.
Although the Representative of the People Act of 1951 suggests that the High Court should try to conclude the trial within six months, it usually drags on for much longer, even years.
