Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) president Rocky Tuseed today claimed in the Delhi High Court that he has not concealed any information with regard to any pending criminal case against him in the recent DU polls.
Tuseed, who represents Congress party's student wing NSUI, also opposed the intervention application filed by BJP student wing ABVP's candidate Rajat Chaudhary, who lost to him in the DUSU polls, seeking to cancel his candidature.
The DUSU president told Justice Indermeet Kaur that the plea by Chaudhary, who has alleged that Tuseed concealed and suppressed facts from the authorities, was an attempt to "malign his public image".
Chaudhary has moved the impleadment application in a pending petition by Tuseed who has challenged the Delhi University (DU) election commission's order rejecting his nomination for the polls on the grounds of disciplinary action.
Chaudhary has said that according to the guidelines of the Lyngdoh committee, a candidate shall not have a previous criminal record, nor be tried or convicted of any criminal offence and shall not have been subject to any disciplinary action by the university authorities.
The plea claimed that Tuseed has not disclosed to the DU authorities that an FIR was lodged against him in 2014 at Rajouri Garden police station in West Delhi for the alleged offences of causing hurt, attempt to murder, trespass and common intention and that he had remained in judicial custody from August 28, 2014 to September 15, 2014.
A charge sheet was also filed in the case.
Tuseed in his reply filed through advocate Nikhil Bhalla submitted that Chaudhary's application is not maintainable as the present proceedings are not the appropriate proceedings and appropriate forum as per the Lyngdoh panel guidelines.
The reply said that the ABVP candidate has not come to this court with clean hands as there are FIRs pending against him.
Bhalla said that Tuseed has neither been tried nor convicted in any criminal matter.
The ABVP candidate, in his plea filed through advocate Jivesh Tiwari, has said there was "deliberate suppression and misrepresentation of facts and narration of false facts by the petitioner (Tuseed) in the proceedings".
They sought to recall the court's September 8 and September 12 interim orders by which Tuseed was allowed to contest the polls and DU was allowed to announce the result.
"Various illegal and unlawful practices were adopted by the petitioner (Tuseed) to win the elections by hook or crook and it has ultimately caused irreparable loss and injury to the applicant (Chaudhary)," the plea alleged.
The high court had in an interim order on September 8 had allowed Tuseed to contest the DUSU elections while setting aside the September 7 order of DU chief election officer.
It had also modified its earlier order and allowed DU to declare the election result on September 13.
Opposing the maintainability of the application, Tuseed said that the ABVP is trying to create trouble for him, who succeeded in 2017-18 DUSU presidential election by a big margin, and this entire exercise of challenging his election is a frivolous attempt to malign his public image.
"None of the allegations levelled against him has any substance," he said, adding that in the past DUSU Presidential elections a number of ABVP candidates had been allowed to contest the elections despite having FIRs registered against their name.
"This entire act of intervening in the present petition filed by him, who happens to be a candidate from NSUI (student wing of Indian National Congress) is a mere political act and does not hold merit.
"Hence, intervening application filed by the unsuccessful candidate is liable to be dismissed at the threshold and the applicant may not be impleaded as a respondent in the pending petition," Tuseed's response said.
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