The Bombay High Court has rejected a BJP MLA's petition seeking a stay of the governor's order disqualifying him following his conviction for electricity theft. A division bench of judges Abhay Oka and Girish Kulkarni refused to grant Suresh Halvankar any relief and on the matter of seeking re-election to the state legislature, left it in the hands of the returning officer to decide on his nomination. Halvankar was elected from Ichalkaranji in 2009.
The BJP leader, who owns a power loom unit in the textiles hub, and his brother were found guilty of stealing electricity amounting to nearly Rs21 lakh from the state electricity board and sentenced to three years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs10,000 in may
The BJP leader, who owns a power loom unit in the textiles hub, and his brother were found guilty of stealing electricity amounting to nearly Rs21 lakh from the state electricity board and sentenced to three years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs10,000 in may
