Jabalpur: Madhya Pradesh High Court today dismissed an election petition against Congress MLA from Bhojpur and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 against petitioner, son of former state Chief Minister Sunderlal Patwa.

Justice A K Shrivastava found that the petition filed by Surendra Patwa, the adopted son of former Chief Minister, accusing Congress MLA Rajesh Patel of capturing 15 booths during assembly elections in Bhojpur, was baseless.

He imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 against Patwa for moving petition without any concrete evidence and factual support.

Defense lawyers contended that witnesses produced by the prosecution were either members of petitioner's family or elected representatives of local bodies.

They claimed that the petition was politically motivated and none of the booth officials had testified against Patel. 
Source : PTI