The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday criticised Education minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama for 'delay tactics' affecting the progress in the adjudication of the election petition filed by Congress' Ashwin Rathod against the latter's controversial poll victory from Dholka assembly constituency. The counsel for Chudasama attracted the court's criticism for not serving the affidavit in lieu of the examination-in-chief of the witnesses furnished by them in the case. As a result, the counsel for Rathod could not carry out their cross-examination. Chudasama's lawyers were supposed to serve the affidavits of the witnesses to all the concerned parties in the case by Monday. Since the affidavits were not supplied, the court could not go ahead with the proceedings. SCORNED UPON The counsel for Chudasama attracted the court’s criticism for not serving the affidavit in lieu of the examination-in-chief of the witnesses furnished by them in the case As a result, counsel for petitioner Ashwin Rathod could not carry out cross-examination Miffed by the delay tactics, the court remarked that henceforth, it will adopt a conservative approach in accommodating the requests made by counsels of Chudasama. It also said the delay tactics adopted by them would not work before the court. Meanwhile, the counsel for one of the respondents Javedmiya Kadari, who also contested the Assembly election of 2017, submitted to the court that an affidavit in-lieu of his examination-in-chief will be served to all the concerned parties by Thursday. Thereafter, the court adjourned the matter till Wednesday, when the cross-examination of Kadari is likely to take place. Interestingly, the minister won the election by a wafer-thin margin of 327 votes and that too after the returning officer Dhaval Jani mysteriously rejected 429 votes through postal ballots, a number greater than the winning margin. It is the contention of Rathod that the rejection of 429 votes received through postal ballots by the returning officer was illegal and resulted in Chudasama's win.

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